JJC  252  .B3  1909 
"batten,  Samuel  Zane,  1859- 
The  Christian  state 


-B  "52.17 


The  Christian  State 


Christian  State 


The  state.  Democracy 
and  Christianity 


THE  GRIFFITH  &  ROWLAND  PRESS 


PHILADELPHIA 
BOSTON         CHICAGO         ST.  LOUIS 
ATLANTA  DALLAS 


Copyright  1909  by 
A.  J.  ROWLAND,  Secretary 

Published  May,  1909 


TO 

THE  MEMORY  OF  MY 

father  ano  (mother 

FOR  THEIR   DEVOTION   IN  CHRISTIAN 
LIVING  AND  THEIR  EXEMPLIFICATION 
OF  CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

THIS  BOOK 
IS 

GRATEFULLY  DEDICATED 


CONTENTS 


Page 


Introduction    9 

Chaptek  BOOK  I.   THE  STATE 

I.  The  Nature  of  the  State   17 

II.  The  Origin  of  the  State   35 

III.  The  Functions  of  the  State   54 

IV.  The  Ideal  of  the  State   79 

V.  The  Forms  of  the  State   100 

BOOK  II.  DEMOCRACY 

VI.  The  Beginnings  of  Democracy   115 

VII.  The  Drift  Toward  Democracy   142 

VIII.  The  Advantages  of  Democracy   166 

IX.  The  Perils  of  Democracy   185 

X.  The  Unfinished  Tasks  of  Democracy   216 


BOOK  III.  CHRISTIANITY 

XI.  The  Relation  of  Church  and  State  

XII.  The  State  and  Its  Religion  

XIII.  The  Problems  of  the  Modern  State.... 

XIV.  The  Programme  of  a  Christian  Society. 
XV.  The  Realization  of  the  Christian  State 


294 
327 
360 
402 


INTRODUCTION 


.  The  supreme  interest  of  mankind  is  the  progress  and 
perfection  of  the  human  race.  In  this  higher  interest  all 
lower  interests  are  involved,  and  toward  this  great  end 
all  lesser  ends  must  contribute.  In  this  all-inclusive 
process  all  other  processes  appear  as  incidents  and  means, 
and  by  this  final  result  all  systems  and  sciences  must  be 
valued.  It  follows  that  whatever  factor  in  life  concerns 
man's  welfare  and  has  relation  to  his  progress  is  a  proper 
subject  of  human  inquiry.  This  is  all  the  justification 
that  is  needed  for  the  study  before  us. 

There  are  three  great  outstanding  facts  and  phenom- 
ena of  our  modern  world  which  overtop  all  others, 
and  are  most  potent  in  life.  The  first  great  fact  is  the 
State,  that  familiar,  dominant,  all-inclusive  institution 
of  man's  social  life.  The  State  in  some  form  is  a  uni- 
versal phenomenon,  and  its  influence  is  as  masterful  as 
fate.  It  has  always  held  a  large  place  in  the  life  of  man,  y 
but  in  these  modern  times  it  claims  the  whole  foreground 
of  his  interest.  It  has  everywhere  played  a  leading  role . 
in  the  drama  of  human  progress,  and  signs  multiply  that 
its  power  is  destined  to  wax  rather  than  to  wane. 

The  second  great  fact  is  Democracy,  the  steady,  irre- 
sistible, world-wide  coming  up  of  the  people  out  of  ob- 
scurity into  authority.  Democracy  as  a  name  is  old  indeed, 
but  democracy  as  a  fact  is  a  modern  phenomenon.  But 
be  it  modern  or  not  it  is  one  of  the  most  significant  and 
certain  tendencies  of  our  time.  In  some  lands  it  is  only 
a  suggestion ;  in  others  it  is  at  best  an  approximation ;  but 
in  all  its  complete  realization  it  is  only  a  question  of  time 


10 


INTRODUCTION 


and  application.   The  democratic  drift  is  a  world  gravita- 
tion, and  one  of  the  potent  movements  of  the  age. 

The  third  great  fact  is  Christianity,  the  system  of  life 
and  truth  and  motive  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Men's  con- 
ceptions of  Christianity  differ  widely  and  their  interpre- 
tations run  the  whole  gamut  of  possible  variety.  But 
Christianity  itself  is  one  thing,  and  men's  definitions  of  it 
are  quite  another.  Christianity  is  the  most  potent  force  ' 
in  our  modern  civilization.  The  world  dates  its  chro- 
nology from  the  birth  of  its  Founder;  its  terms  have 
become  a  part  of  our  common  speech,  and  it  is  not  with- 
out meaning  in  world  history.  The  State  is  a  universal  i 
phenomenon,  democracy  is  a  universal  drift,  and  Chris- 
tianity, its  followers  believe,  is  the  universal  religion. 

This  suggests  a  natural  and  important  question :  "  Is  4 
there  any  vital  and  necessary  relation  between  these  three 
great  phenomena  ?  "  Philosophy,  we  are  told,  is  the  art 
of  thinking  things  together.  Is  it  possible  for  one  to  , 
think  together  these  three  great  facts,  the  State,  de- 
mocracy, and  Christianity?  These  questions  are  among 
the  most  fateful  questions  of  the  time,  and  upon  their 
right  solution  depend  a  hundred  issues  in  man's  life  and 
progress.  Through  their  neglect  great  loss  has  already 
come,  and  through  their  wrong  solution  great  calamity 
may  result.  But  these  questions  have  hardly  come,  as  yet, 
into  the  foreground  of  human  inquiry.  Aspects  of  these 
phenomena  have  been  considered,  and  each  of  these  great 
facts  has  been  studied ;  but  so  far  as  I  am  aware  no  one 
has  considered  each  fact  in  its  relation  to  the  others.  The 
inquiry  before  us,  it  is  believed,  has  a  timeliness  and  a 
value  for  reasons  which  may  be  briefly  stated. 

The  signs  of  the  times  indicate  that  the  great  strug-v 
gles  of  the  future  are  to  be  fought  within  the  boundaries 
of  the  State.   Current  movements  in  human  society  show 
impending  changes  in  our  social  and  political  institutions. 


INTRODUCTION 


II 


The  foundations  of  all  human  institutions  are  being  ex- 
amined with  pick  and  shovel,  and  everything  is  challenged 
to  show  its  warrant  for  continuance.  Human  society  has 
begun  to  investigate  itself,  with  the  result  that  a  chain  of 
problems  constitutes  man's  horizon.  The  interrogation 
mark  is  the  sign  manual  of  the  age.  The  word,  problem/ 
is  the  most  recurrent  word  in  every  language  to-day. 

As  might  be  expected,  men  are  taking  different  atti-^ 
tudes  toward  the  problems  presented,  and  this  greatly 
complicates  the  issue.  Some  are  trying  to  hush  men's 
fears  by  declaring  that  the  evils  of  society  are  greatly 
exaggerated ;  and  they  close  their  homily  by  saying  that 
all  things  will  come  right  in  time.  At  any  rate,  some  of 
these  things  are  inevitable — and  perhaps  necessary — in 
an  imperfect  society.  And,  anyway,  they  say,  nature's 
processes  cannot  be  hurried.  Others,  going  to  the  op- 
posite extreme,  are  demanding  the  overthrow  of  all  exist- 
ing institutions  and  the  creation  of  a  new  social  order. 
The  old  must  go  before  the  new  can  appear.  Still  others, 
and  probably  the  largest  class,  stand  confused,  realizing 
that  something  is  wrong,  and  that  something  must  be 
done,  and  yet  without  any  sense  of  direction  or  pro- 
gramme of  action.  With  all  these,  of  whatever  class  ory 
party,  there  is  the  foreboding  that  vast  changes  are  im- 
pending in  our  Western  civilization  of  which  no  one  is 
clairvoyant  enough  to  see  the  end.  And  beyond  all  these 
differences,  there  is  the  conviction  that  a  part  of  this 
something  to  be  done  must  be  done  in  and  through  the 
State,  and  that  it  is  to  the  State  that  we  must  look  for 
help.  In  a  word,  there  is  the  conviction  that  there  must  / 
be  a  wide  extension  of  State  activity  into  man's  social 
and  industrial  life.  And  this  means  that  the  State  is 
becoming  one  of  the  media  of  the  new  social  conscious- 
ness that  is  growing,  and  that  it  must  assume  many  new 
functions  and  exercise  many  new  powers. 


INTRODUCTION 


But  while  these  demands  are  being  made  upon  the 
State  some  embarrassing  questions  are  being  asked  con- 
cerning the  State  itself.  What  is  its  place  in  the  economy 
of  life  ?  What  is  its  mission  and  what  are  its  functions  ? 
But  even  more  disturbing  questions  are  asked :  By  what 
right  does  the  State  exist  at  all  and  make  its  demands? 
Has  not  the  time  come  to  abolish  all  present  political  in- 
stitutions and  make  a  new  beginning  in  human  progress? 
Of  one  thing  I  am  persuaded — and  this  persuasion  is 
based  upon  years  of  earnest  thought  upon  the  questions 
of  citizenship  and  of  practical  effort  in  behalf  of  reform — 
that  one  of  the  great  needs  of  this  present  time  is  some 
large  conception  of  the  State,  its  meaning,  its  functions, 
its  relation  to  man's  progress,  and  its  place  in  the  purpose 
of  God.  However  it  may  have  been,  and  however  it  may 
be,  now  when  men  are  coming  to  social  self-consciousness 
and  are  asking  why  the  State  is  here,  and  what  is  its 
destiny,  the  great  need  is  some  sense  of  direction  in 
social  action  and  a  clear  vision  of  the  goal. 

"  Where  there  is  no  vision  the  people  perish."  In  these 
days  the  number  of  brave  and  thoughtful  men  is  rapidly 
growing.  In  every  community,  large  or  small,  there  are 
groups  and  associations  of  reformers  studying  the  ques- 
tions of  the  day  and  bent  on  change.  In  many  cities  there 
is  a  growing  demand  for  better  government  and  more 
worthy  conditions.  But  the  one  who  will  take  the  pains 
to  investigate  will  find,  alas,  that  too  often  these  men  are 
considering  some  little  task  with  small  conception  of 
the  total  task  which  confronts  society.  They  are  working 
for  a  better  city,  and  yet  few  have  vision  of  what  a  city 
should  be.  They  want  better  government  and  worthier 
conditions  without  always  knowing  when  government  is 
good  and  what  conditions  should  exist.  In  short,  they 
want  a  better  world,  but  they  do  not  know  where  to  begin 
nor  how  to  proceed.  Under  these  circumstances  the  great 


INTRODUCTION 


13 


need  is  some  human  synthesis,  some  social  ideal,  which 
shall  both  show  men  the  direction  of  progress  and  shall 
marshal  them  as  one  host  to  build  the  City  of  God.  To  r 
understand  the  special  task  of  one  man  we  must  know  its 
relation  to  the  total  task  of  mankind.  To  know  how  to 
use  that  mighty  agency  of  human  progress,  the  State,  we 
must  know-something  of  the  meaning  and  mission  of  the 
State.  In  fine,  the  great  need  of  to-day  is  some  adequate, 
conception  of  the  State,  its  nature  and  functions,  some 
definite  sense  of  the  direction  of  human  progress,  and 
some  clear  understanding  of  the  relation  of  Christianity 
to  the  whole  life  of  man. 

And  this  suggests  the  thesis  with  which  we  are  con- 
cerned in  this  study.  It  is  easy  for  one  who  is  interested 
in  some  special  line  to  suppose  that  his  interest  should  be 
the  concern  of  all.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  impossible  to 
overestimate  the  importance  of  this  subject  or  exaggerate 
its  relation  to  man's  social  progress.  In  his  day  John 
Bunyan  rendered  the  individual  an  incalculable  service 
in  that  he  interpreted  the  soul  to  itself  and  made  it  know 
its  calling,  its  duties,  its  dangers,  and  its  destiny.  But 
the  interpretation  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  clear  and 
scriptural  as  it  is  in  its  personal  aspects,  does  not  satisfy 
either  the  mind  or  the  heart  of  the  modern  man.  In  the  j 
providences  of  God  and  the  processes  of  history  the  age 
of  the  social  man  is  dawning,  and  the  social  problem  is 
becoming  urgent.  The  man  who  can  now  interpret  the  , 
State  to  itself,  who  can  make  society  know  its  mean- 
ing, its  functions,  its  tasks,  and  its  goal,  who  can  interpret 
this  modern  phenomenon  known  as  democracy  and  can 
show  its  relation  to  human  progress,  who  can  show  the  , 
real  relation  of  the  State  to  the  kingdom  of  God  and  can 
indicate  the  lines  of  effort  for  the  divine  potencies  of  the 
gospel,  will  render  mankind  an  even  greater  service. 
Thof  #»?  writer  has  fulfilled  more  than  a  fraction  of  this 


14 


INTRODUCTION 


great  task  he  is  not  vain  enough  to  suppose.  But  that  he 
has  indicated  some  of  the  factors  entering  into  the  prob- 
lem he  may  confidently  believe.  The  fact  is,  this  is  a 
task  that  will  require  the  combined  efforts  of  generations 
of  men  fully  to  approximate.  That  the  author  has  tried 
to  see  things  clearly  and  has  blinked  no  difficulty  he  may 
modestly  claim.  This  is  probably  all  that  may  be  expected 
of  any  man  in  any  one  generation. 

That  great  changes  are  imminent  in  our  modern  world, 
that  a  new  age  is  struggling  to  the  birth,  that  a  new  order 
of  society  is  impending,  that  political  institutions  are  still 
evolving,  and  that  the  State  must  assume  some  new  func- 
tions, the  signs  of  the  times  indicate  and  the  most  dis- 
cerning men  believe.  What  will  be  the  attitude  of  Chris- 
tian men  in  this  time  of  crisis?  Will  they  misread  the 
signs  and  take  an  attitude  of  opposition  and  suspicion  ? 
What  will  be  the  relation  between  the  democratic  move- 
ment and  the  Christian  spirit?  What  will  be  the  out- 
come of  the  formative  forces  that  are  now  at  work  in 
society?  These  are  some  of  the  fateful  sphinx  questions 
of  to-morrow,  and  upon  their  right  solution  depend  a 
hundred  issues.  Will  Christian  men  see  to  it  that  the  age 
is  Christian  in  spirit  and  method?  Will  the  citizens  of 
the  democratic  State  see  to  it  that  the  social  and  political 
institutions  of  the  future  are  motived  by  the  mind  of 
Christ?  Will  the  Church  and  the  State  work  with  each 
supplementing  the  other,  or  at  cross  purposes?  Finally, 
will  the  State  become  the  medium  through  which  the 
people  shall  co-operate  in  their  search  after  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  its  righteousness?  The  answer  to  these  questions 
lies  still  in  the  future ;  and  though  we  may  not  forecast  the 
result,  we  may  yet  hope  for  the  best.  This  is  certain,  that 
if  Christianity  fails  here  it  will  spell  a  most  tragic  failure. 
If  Christianity  succeeds  here,  it  will  win  a  most  momen- 
tous victory  and  will  gain  the  allegiance  of  mankind. 


Book  I.  The  State 


A  State  contains  in  itself,  if  I  may  so  speak,  the  perfection  of 
independence;  and  it  is  first  founded  that  men  may  live,  but 
continued  that  they  may  live  happily. 

— Aristotle,  Politics,  Bk.  I,  Chap.  z. 

The  State — the  greatest  institution  on  earth — elevates  every- 
thing that  appertains  to  it,  every  duty,  interest  or  measure,  into 
great  importance,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  affects  all,  and, 
what  with  its  direct  and  indirect  operation,  it  very  materially 
influences  the  moral  well-being  of  every  individual.  .  .  The  State 
with  its  laws  and  government  affects  materially  the  manhood  of 
all  living  in  it.  Good  laws  elevate  men;  bad  laws,  if  persisted  in 
for  a  series  of  years,  will  degrade  any  society. 

—Francis  Lieber,  Political  Ethics,  Vol.  I,  Sec.  XXXVIII. 

Honesty,  morality,  religion,  and  education  are  the  main  pillars 
of  the  State,  for  the  protection  and  promotion  of  which  govern- 
ment was  instituted  among  men. 

— Commonwealth  vs.  Douglas,  100,  Ky.,  116.    Affirmed  by  168 
U.  S.  Rep.,  488. 

The  social  order,  the  national  sentiments,  the  governmental 
regulations  influence  immeasurably  every  soul  that  comes  within 
their  reach.  More  and  more  men  are  coming  to  see  that  the 
State  has  a  moral  end,  and  that  the  real  work  of  citizens  con- 
sists in  so  shaping  institutions  and  framing  legislation  that  con- 
ditions may  be  secured  favorable  for  the  development  of  noble 
characters.  .  .  Politics  is  the  science  of  social  welfare,  and  has 
at  heart  the  achievement  of  a  social  order  in  which  the  ideals  of 
humanity  shall  be  realized. 

— Batten,  The  New  Citizenship,  pp.  245,  246. 

The  State  is,  in  one  view,  a  piece  of  machinery  produced  by 
the  social  process,  but  the  justification  for  its  existence  is  its 
continued  furtherance  of  the  process.  .  .  The  State  never  is,  but  is 
always  becoming.  This  is  true  because  the  persons  composing 
the  State  never  are,  but  are  always  becoming.  A  process  is 
going  on,  is  our  most  general  way  of  telling  the  essential  truth 
about  a  person  or  a  society. 

— Small,  General  Sociology,  p.  240. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STATE 


HAT  we  call  the  State  is  a  recognized  force 


V  V  and  factor  in  the  life  of  all  peoples.  In  the  study 
of  history  we  find  men  at  all  stages  of  mental  and  social 
development,  but  we  never  find  them  without  polit- 
ical institutions.  If  savage  means  a  people  without  a 
settled  form  of  government,  without  laws,  and  without  a 
religion,  says  Max  Miiller,  then,  go  where  you  like,  you 
will  not  find  such  a  race  ("  Nineteenth  Cen.,"  Jan.,  1885). 
In  the  study  of  sociology  also  we  find  peoples  at  all  levels 
of  progress,  but  if  there  has  ever  been  a  people  without 
some  form  of  social  and  political  life,  we  have  no  record 
of  its  existence.  Everywhere  we  find  men  associated 
in  some  way,  submitting  to  some  public  authority,  and 
exercising  certain  powers  through  an  agency  termed 
government.  The  forms  of  their  social  life  may  vary, 
the  scope  of  authority  may  differ  among  different  peoples, 
and  the  functions  of  these  governments  may  run  the 
gamut  of  variety,  but  beneath  all  appearances  and  differ- 
ences there  are  constant  elements  and  essential  resem- 
blance.  The  State  is  a  universal  phenomenon. 

The  State  makes  many  demands  upon  its  citizens  and 
exercises  wide  control.  In  its  worst  forms,  the  State  may 
override  the  individual  and  may  become  an  intolerable 
tyranny ;  it  may  treat  men  as  means  to  its  own  ends ;  it 
may  compel  them  to  hold  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and 
their  happiness  at  the  will  of  another;  in  fine,  it  may 
affirm  that  men  have  no  rights  as  against  the  State.  In 
its  best  forms  the  State  asks  the  service  of  all  in  its  behalf ; 


B 


i8 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


in  the  form  of  taxes  it  requires  a  portion  of  every  man's 
income ;  by  the  right  of  eminent  domain,  which  it  asserts 
is  older  and  deeper  than  any  individual  right,  it  may 
claim  a  part  of  his  estate ;  and  in  times  of  danger  and  need 
it  may  ask  him  to  lay  his  all  upon  its  altar.  In  the 
Grecian  States,  in  their  palmiest  days,  the  State  was  every- 
thing, and  the  person  counted  for  little  (De  Coulanges, 
"The  Ancient  City,"  pp.  297,  298).  In  the  most  demo- 
cratic States,  in  these  modern  times,  the  State  is  the  unit 
and  the  final  worth  of  man  is  his  value  to  society.  In  view 
of  all  this,  as  rational  beings  we  should  consider  the  right 
of  the  State  to  be,  and  should  be  able  to  conceive  clearly 
its  nature.  What  then  is  this  institution,  so  universally 
known  as  the  State?  What  is  its  essential  nature,  and 
what  are  its  constant  characteristics?  And  by  what 
right  does  it  exist  and  assert  its  authority? 

The  moment  we  ask  these  questions  our  perplexity  be- 
gins. For  "  The  conception  which  prevails  generally 
among  the  men  of  our  time  of  the  State,  its  nature,  and 
the  part  it  has  to  play,  is  singularly  confusing  and  con- 
fused. .  .  When  it  approaches  this  theme,  which  has  so 
weighty  a  bearing  on  human  destinies,  their  thought  loses 
itself  in  mist  and  fog"  (Beaulieu,  "The  Modern  State," 
p.  1).  In  this  chapter  we  are  concerned  with  the 
nature  of  the  State;  in  other  chapters  we  shall  con- 
sider its  functions  and  its  goal.  Clear  thought  here  will 
help  us  all  the  way,  while  confusion  here  means  increas- 
ing confusion  at  the  end.  It  is  evident  that  any  concep- 
tion of  the  State,  to  be  adequate,  must  be  one  that  will 
disclose  its  nature  and  characteristics ;  it  must  be  one  too, 
that  will  contain  justification  of  the  right  of  the  State  to 
be  and  exercise  authority ;  and  it  must  contain  a  satisfac- 
tory statement  of  the  attributes  with  which  a  State  is  en- 
dowed and  by  which  it  is  distinguished  from  other  corpo- 
rations (Willoughby,  "  The  Nature  of  the  State,"  p.  6). 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STATE 


19 


Such  an  inquiry  has  its  difficulties,  for  the  reason  that  the 
forms  and  functions  of  the  State  have  varied  so  greatly. 
But  with  it  all  we.  shall  find  certain  constant  and  irre- 
ducible elements,  and  these  are  worthy  of  careful  con- 
sideration. We  are  not  concerned  primarily  with  the 
exterior  features  of  the  State;  our  chief  concern  is  with 
its  ultimate  nature  and  essential  quality.  These  former 
characteristics  are  interesting,  and  Bluntschli  has  analyzed 
them  with  great  discrimination.  Thus  we  are  told  that 
in  every  State  we  find  a  number  of  men  combined,  hold- 
ing a  permanent  relation  to  the  soil,  and  bound  together  in 
a  more  or  less  firm  cohesion ;  in  all  States  we  find  a  dis- 
tinction between  the  governors  and  the  governed ;  and  in 
every  State  we  find  the  people  associated  in  some  organic 
whole  (Bluntschli,  "The  Theory  of  the  State,  Bk.  I, 
chap.  i).  These  last  characteristics  are  vital,  and  these  we 
must  consider  in  detail. 

I.  The  State  is  the  Political  Organization  of  the  People. 
There  are  three  great  institutions  which  in  some  form, 
are  universal — the  Family,  the  Church,  and  the  State. 
These  three  institutions  cover  the  entire  range  of  human 
life,  and  their  perfection  implies  its  perfection.  Each  has 
its  functions,  though  they  all  occupy  much  the  same 
sphere.  Each  has  its  distinctive  mission  in  the  economy 
of  life,  yet  they  all  work  toward  the  one  common  end. 
In  any  complete  and  synthetic  view  of  man  and  society, 
these  institutions  must  be  considered,  and  their  relation  to 
one  another  determined.  It  is  not  necessary  to  our  pur- 
pose, however,  that  we  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  the 
family  and  the  church,  for  that  would  carry  us  too  far 
afield.  And  yet,  to  form  an  adequate  conception  of  the 
State,  we  must  note  some  of  the  distinctions  that  exist  in 
the  fundamental  life  and  organization  of  these  institu- 
tions. By  marking  the  contrasts  each  may  be  more  clearly 
defined. 


20 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Thus  the  family,  the  Institute  of  the  Affections,  is  the 
medium  through  which  the  person  begins  to  be.  It  is  the 
channel  through  which  the  stream  of  human  life  flows 
on.  The  church,  the  Household  of  Faith,  is  the  agency 
through  which  divine  and  quickening  influences  are 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  unfolding  life.  Through  it  man 
is  brought  to  God,  and  the  human  spirit  is  lifted  up  into 
fellowship  with  the  divine  Spirit.  The  church  is  con- 
cerned primarily  with  the  work  of  informing  the  mind, 
training  the  conscience,  stirring  the  affections,  and  direct- 
ing the  will.  The  State,  the  Institute  of  Right  Relations,, 
is  the  means  through  which  the  environment  of  life  is  de- 
termined. It  is  the  chief  function  of  the  State  to  provide 
and  conserve  the  conditions  of  human  existence,  and 
thus  make  it  possible  for  each  life  to  attain  its  fullest 
development. 

These  three  institutions,  though  essential  to  man  and 
representing  vital  factors  of  his  being,  yet  have  a  differ- 
ent basis  of  organization  and  assume  a  different  form. 
The  family  is  in  a  real  sense  necessary  to  man,  for  it  is  in 
the  family  that  he  begins  and  completes  his  life.  He  who 
made  them  in  the  beginning  made  them  male  and  female, 
and  ordained  that  a  man  shall  leave  his  father  and  his 
mother,  and  cleave  unto  his  wife,  and  they  twain  become 
one  flesh  (Matt.  19  :  4).  But  implied  in  this  very 
distinction  and  involved  in  the  very  relation  of  husband 
and  wife  is  one  element  all  important,  and  that  is  love. 
In  the  most  real  sense,  it  is  love  that  draws  the  man  and 
the  woman  together ;  it  is  love  that  creates  the  family ; 
it  is  in  love  that  the  family  has  its  potency  and  its  life.  In 
the  most  real  sense,  therefore,  the  family  may  be  called  the 
commonwealth  of  the  affections ;  in  the  poetic  and  sig- 
nificant words  of  Mazzini  it  may  be  called  the  heart's 
fatherland. 

The  church  no  less  than  the  family  is  necessary  to  man, 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STATE 


21 


and  grows  out  of  his  great  needs.  It  is  true  that  what  we 
call  the  church  is  more  or  less  limited  to  Christian  peoples  ; 
but  the  church,  which  represents  the  religious  life  of  man, 
is  found  in  some  form  in  every  land.  For  wherever  we 
find  man  we  find  him  observing  certain  religious  forms 
and  creating  definite  religious  institutions,  and  these  in 
a  general  way  represent  what  we  may  call  the  church. 
We  are  here  concerned  with  the  developed  and  differ- 
entiated idea  as  it  exists  in  Christian  lands  in  the  Chris- 
tian church.  This  church,  we  find  as  we  consider  it,  is  a 
voluntary  organization.  It  is  true  that  among  the  earlier 
peoples  of  the  world  the  institutions  of  religion  were  re- 
garded as  fixed,  not  to  be  created  by  man  nor  to  be 
changed  by  him.  It  is  true  also  that  in  many  divisions 
of  Christendom  the  church  is  regarded  as  a  necessary  in- 
stitution, in  that  membership  in  it  is  determined  for  man, 
and  not  by  him.  Thus  in  some  communions  the  child  is 
baptized  in  infancy  into  the  church,  and  without  any 
choice  of  his  own  is  "  made  a  member  of  Christ,  a  child  of 
God,  and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  But 
it  must  be  observed  that  in  all  of  these  churches  some- 
thing depends  upon  the  will  of  the  person  himself;  for 
as  he  comes  to  maturity  he  is  expected  to  ratify  this  action 
of  his  sponsors,  and  thus  his  church  life  is  the  expression 
of  his  own  personal  choice.  In  many  divisions  of  Chris- 
tendom special  emphasis  is  laid  upon  this  element  of 
personal  choice,  and  membership  in  the  church  is  wholly 
a  voluntary  matter.  A  man  is  not  born  into  the  church 
as  he  is  born  into  the  family  or  the  State,  but  he  is  re- 
born into  it  through  his  own  personal  faith.  But — and 
this  is  the  one  thing  that  concerns  us  here — the  church 
in  its  life  and  organization  depends  wholly  upon  its  appeal 
to  man's  reason  and  its  harmony  with  his  will ;  or,  it 
may  be  said  that  the  church  is  the  visible  form  of  man's 
faith  in  Christ  and  the  organized  expression  of  the  divine 


22 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


life.  The  church  has  not  always  been  true  to  its  essential 
idea,  and  has  sometimes  approximated  the  State  in  its 
methods ;  it  has  more  than  once  employed  other  agencies 
than  the  persuasives  of  the  gospel,  and  has  sought  the 
arm  of  the  State  in  making  its  wishes  effective.  But  more 
and  more  the  best  men  in  all  communions  are  coming 
to  see  that  this  is  contrary  to  the  mind  of  Christ  and  is  in 
contravention  of  the  very  idea  of  the  church.  The  church 
is  a  voluntary  organization;  it  has  its  foundations  in  the 
faith  of  men,  and  it  may  be  called  the  household  of  faith 
and  the  building  of  the  Spirit. 

The  State,  while  quite  as  necessary  to  man  as  either 
of  these  institutions,  has  yet  a  different  basis,  and  depends 
upon  other  factors.  Wherever  we  go  we  find  the  State 
in  some  form,  and  the  man  who  does  not  wish  to  be  a 
citizen  must  consort  with  savages  or  leave  the  world.  He 
is  born  into  the  State,  and  he  must  accept  its  political 
institutions.  He  may  not  find  himself  in  harmony  with 
the  institutions  and  policies  of  the  State,  and  may 
refuse  to  vote  or  accept  office,  but  none  the  less  he  is 
subject  to  its  authority,  must  pay  his  quota  of  taxes,  and 
must  conduct  himself  in  an  orderly  manner. 

This  means  that  the  State  represents  other  factors  than 
those  of  affection  and  faith.  It  may  be  said  that  the 
State  will  flourish  best  where  it  has  both  the  affection  and 
confidence  of  all  its  citizens;  but  the  State  is  concerned 
with  other  interests  than  the  family  and  the  church,  and 
may  employ  very  different  machinery.  The  State  has  to 
do  with  rights,  and  in  a  way  depends  upon  these.  But 
rights  imply  duties;  a  duty  is  always  the  obverse  of  a 
right.  The  State  that  would  maintain  rights  must 
also  enforce  duties ;  and  this  means  a  government  that 
can  make  its  decrees  effective.  To  secure  these  human 
rights  and  to  enforce  these  corollary  duties  governments 
are  instituted,  and  are  just  in  so  far  as  they  hold  the 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STATE 


23 


balance  even.  This  does  not  tell  the  whole  story,  and  is 
not  a  full  definition,  but  it  is  true  so  far  as  it  goes.  This 
means  that  the  State  is  concerned  with  what  may  be 
called  the  civic  and  political  interests  of  man ;  that  it  exists 
to  secure  for  men  their  rights,  and  that  its  authority  must 
be  employed  in  defending  those  rights ;  it  means,  in  a 
word,  that  the  State  is  the  political  organization  of  the 
people,  with  powers  sufficient  for  its  task.  The  State  may  > 
be  considered  as  society  in  its  corporate  capacity  and  as 
exercising  a  definite  control  over  the  lives  of  its  mem- 
bers ;  that  is,  "  The  State  is  the  politically  organized 
national  person  of  a  definite  country  "  (Bluntschli,  "  The 
Theory  of  the  State,"  Bk.  I,  chap.  i). 

II.  The  State  is  the  Organ  of  the  Political  Conscious- 
ness. In  his  great  treatise  on  politics,  Aristotle,  "  The 
father  of  them  who  know,"  lays  down  the  dictum  that 
man  is  by  nature  a  political  being;  and  the  man  who  is 
naturally  and  not  accidentally  unfit  for  human  society  is 
either  below  or  above  the  human  stage  ("  Politics,"  Bk. 
I,  chap.  ii).  Thus  the  Cyclops  reviled  by  Homer  are 
proved  to  be  less  than  human  in  that  they  have  neither 
courts  nor  markets,  and  live  as  solitary  as  a  bird  of  prey  : 

No  laws  have  they ;  they  hold 
No  councils.    On  the  mountain  heights  they  dwell 
In  vaulted  caves,  where  each  man  rules  his  wives 
And  children  as  he  pleases;  none  give  heed 
To  what  the  others  do. 

—Odyssey,  IX  :  136-140 

With  keen  analysis  Aristotle  shows  that  there  is  in  all 
normal  persons  an  instinct  which  impels  them  to  some 
form  of  political  organization ;  and  he  who  first  estab- 
lished civil  society  was  the  cause  of  the  greatest  benefit 
to  mankind.  This  primary  affirmation  of  the  Stagirite 
subsequent  thinking  has  not  invalidated,  but  rather  con- 


24 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


firmed.  For  which  reason  every  State  is  a  work  of 
nature.  The  fact  is,  some  form  of  human  society  is  to 
be  found  among  every  people  that  is  truly  human,  and 
in  a  large  way  it  may  be  said  that  a  people  is  to  be 
ranked  as  high  or  low  in  the  scale  of  life  according  to 
the  degree  in  which  the  art  of  living  together  has  been 
learned  and  political  institutions  have  been  developed. 
Men,  as  we  know  them,  are  made  for  fellowship,  and  they 
can  attain  perfection  of  being  only  through  association 
with  their  kind.  One  man,  says  the  German  proverb,  is 
no  man.  Could  a  man  grow  up  with  lifeless  nature,  with- 
out human  association  of  any  kind,  says  a  modern  psy- 
chologist, "  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  he  would 
become  as  self-conscious  as  is  now  a  fairly  educated  cat  " 
(Royce,  "Studies  of  Good  and  Evil,"  p.  208).  It  is 
easier  for  the  rose  to  grow  without  soil  and  to  bloom 
without  sunshine  than  for  man  to  unfold  his  possibilities 
and  to  become  man  without  human  fellowship. 

In  the  development  of  political  thought,  various  views 
have  been  advanced  to  account  for  the  State,  and  to  define 
its  essential  nature.  Some  of  these  views,  with  reference 
to  the  origin  of  the  State,  we  shall  notice  in  the  next 
chapter.  Not  one  of  these  views,  as  we  shall  see,  is  satis- 
factory; the  only  views  which  are  at  all  adequate  are 
those  which  assume  that  man  is  a  social  and  political 
being,  possessing  a  consciousness  and  instinct  which  seek 
and  find  expression  in  association  and  institutions  of 
political  life. 

An  illustration  of  the  growth  of  the  State  may  be  found 
in  the  history  of  many  of  the  American  commonwealths. 
A  number  of  immigrants  from  different  lands  move  into 
a  new  territory  and  settle  there.  At  first  the  families  are 
few  and  scattered,  and  do  what  seems  right  in  their  own 
eyes.  But  the  day  comes  when  these  isolated  settlers 
become  established  and  begin  to  find  one  another  out. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STATE 


25 


Now  men  begin  to  feel  the  need  of  some  formal  organ- 
ization which  shall  represent  the  common  life  and  con- 
serve the  common  good.  Each  man  has  an  impulse  toward 
association.  Each  man  in  his  place  looks  up  and  sees 
another.  In  some  way  they  will  seek  to  express  their 
mutual  life  and  become  united  in  political  relations.  This 
instinct  for  fellowship,  this  consciousness  of  kind,  at  once 
finds  expression  and  realization  in  certain  associations 
and  institutions.  Men  have  an  instinct  which  impels  them 
to  seek  association ;  they  are  conscious  of  mutual  rights 
and  duties ;  in  this  instinct  and  consciousness  we  find  the 
forces  that  draw  men  together  and  create  the  State. 
Thus  when  these  persons  come  together  to  form  some 
association  and  to  create  some  government  they  do  not 
have  to  begin  at  the  beginning.  In  the  persons  that  com- 
pose the  State  consciousness  of  their  oneness  exists,  and 
this  becomes  explicit  and  objective  in  the  political  organ- 
ism. Call  it  what  we  will — the  sense  of  kinship,  the  > 
consciousness  of  kind,  the  instinct  of  fellowship — the  fact 
is,  there  is  that  which  leads  man  to  seek  out  his  fellows  and 
to  associate  with  them.  The  State  is  the  expression  of  this 
human  fellowship,  and  becomes  the  organ  of  the  political 
consciousness. 

III.  The  State  is  the  Institute  of  Right  Relations.  "  A 
State,"  so  Plato  reports  Socrates,  "  arises,  as  I  conceive, 
out  of  the  needs  of  mankind ;  no  one  is  self-sufficing,  but 
all  have  many  wants.  Can  any  other  origin  of  a  State  be 
imagined  ? 

"  '  None,'  replied  Adeimantus. 

"  '  Then,  as  we  have  many  wants,  and  many  persons  are 
needed  to  supply  them,  one  takes  a  helper  for  one  purpose, 
and  another  for  another ;  and  when  these  helpers  and 
partners  are  gathered  together  in  one  habitation,  the  body 
of  inhabitants  is  termed  a  State? 

"  '  True,'  he  said  "  ("  The  Republic,"  Bk.  II). 


26 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


A  simple  and  primitive  condition  of  life  may  not 
need  much  in  the  way  of  a  political  organization.  The 
early  settlers  in  some  of  the  American  States,  it  is  said, 
cared  little  for  the  protection  of  government,  and  felt  well 
able  to  get  along  without  it.  Each  man  depended  upon 
himself  and  his  trusty  rifle.  At  best,  such  a  Stateless  con- 
dition is  possible  only  so  long  as  families  are  widely  scat- 
tered. As  soon  as  men  come  into  closer  relations  and 
society  becomes  more  complex,  some  organization  or  in- 
stitute of  right  relations  becomes  necessary.  Robinson 
Crusoe  and  his  man  Friday  can  get  along  very  well  on 
their  solitary  island  without  a  government,  so  long  as 
Crusoe  is  master  and  Friday  is  servant,  and  there  is  no 
one  else  to  encroach  or  interfere.  But  the  moment  Crusoe 
returns  to  civilized  life,  that  moment  his  relations  are 
multiplied  and  the  State  becomes  necessary. 

Life,  according  to  the  best  definition,  is  a  matter  of 
relationships.  The  higher  the  life  the  larger  the  number 
of  these  and  the  more  complex  they  become.  Modern 
society,  as  we  know  it,  is  complex  and  intricate,  and  the 
dependences  of  man  upon  man  are  manifold.  It  must  be 
evident  that  these  relations  cannot  be  left  to  individual 
caprice.  The  relations  of  man  with  man  must  be  just 
and  right,  or  they  become  intolerable.  In  a  modern  city 
where  life  touches  life  at  a  thousand  points,  and  where 
each  man  is  dependent  upon  his  fellows,  it  is  necessary 
that  there  be  some  power  or  authority  over  and  above  the 
individuals  which  shall  define  and  adjust  the  relations 
existing  among  them.  The  strong  must  not  be  allowed 
to  tyrannize  over  the  weak.  It  is  clear  that  men  must 
not  be  left  to  shift  for  themselves,  with  each  taking  all 
he  can  get  and  keeping  all  he  has  secured.  There  are  a 
thousand  and  one  questions  concerning  the  things  that 
are  more  or  less  in  common,  such  as  streets  and  paving, 
fire  and  police  protection,  transportation  and  communica- 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STATE 


27 


tion,  that  must  be  defined  in  charters  and  ordinances. 
In  brief,  there  are  certain  rights  which  each  person  *f 
may  claim  as  a  member  of  society,  and  these  rights  may 
be  defined  as  "  the  organic  whole  of  the  outward  condi- 
tions of  a  life  according  to  reason." 

In  the  history  of  political  progress  much  has  been  said 
about  the  rights  of  man,  and  great  revolutions  have  been 
fought  to  obtain  these  rights.  In  any  complete  account  of 
the  State,  it  is  necessary  that  these  rights  be  considered 
and  their  nature  determined.  It  would  be  necessary  also 
to  show  that  these  rights  are  social  things,  and  that  their 
very  conception  by  man  implies  an  order  of  social  rela- 
tions. This  work  has  been  done  most  thoroughly  by' 
Thomas  Hill  Green,  in  his  "  Principles  of  Political  Obliga-  , 
tion,"  and  by  Professor  Ritchie,  in  "  Natural  Rights." 
This  inquiry  reveals  the  fact  that  every  right  implies  a  ■ 
duty.  To  assert  that  one  is  a  person  with  rights  society 
is  bound  to  respect,  is  to  assert  that  he  is  a  person  with 
duties  society  may  require.  Thus  we  are  led  inevitably 
to  the  conception  of  man,  with  mutual  rights  and  duties ; 
and  also  to  the  conception  of  the  State  as  the  organ 
through  which  these  rights  and  duties  are  defined  and 
enforced.  It  is  possible  for  one  to  deal  with  these  rights 
and  duties,  but  it  seems  better  to  deal  directly  with  human 
relations  as  more  vital  and  personal.  And  inasmuch  as 
rights  and  duties  rest  upon  human  relations,  it  is  better 
to  deal  directly  with  the  relations  themselves. 

These  human  relations  are  woven  into  the  very  warp 
and  woof  of  man's  life.  The  State  finds  that  there  are 
certain  relations  which  men  sustain  to  one  another  in 
society,  and  then  it  attempts  to  define  and  safeguard  these 
relations.  It  does  not  create  these  relations,  it  does 
not  even  create  the  consciousness  of  them.  There  is  a 
sense  in  which  we  may  define  a  civil  law  as  the  legal  for- 
mulation of  a  social  custom.    The  law  implies  a  custom 


28 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


and  a  consciousness ;  it  defines  what  is  found  in  this  cus- 
tom and  consciousness ;  it  delimits  and  sanctions  these ; 
it  defines  what  each  person  owes  the  other;  it  pledges 
itself  to  safeguard  these  relations  of  men  so  far  as  they 
are  in  justice  and  truth ;  it  puts  the  stamp  of  its  authority 
upon  them  and  makes  them  obligatory;  and  it  punishes 
the  person  who  violates  and  dishonors  them.  The  law  of 
the  State  is  thus  the  pledge  of  security  and  fair  dealing; 
it  defines  the  rules  of  social  conduct  which  each  member 
of  society  shall  observe  in  his  dealings  with  others ;  it 
throws  over  these  relations  the  mantle  of  its  protection 
and  sets  upon  them  the  stamp  of  its  approval. 

There  are  certain  relations  in  which  men  stand  to  one 
another,  as  husbands  and  wives,  fathers  and  children, 
friends  and  neighbors,  masters  and  employees,  taxpayers 
and  officials,  which  are  before  and  above  all  governments. 
These  relations  of  man  with  man,  however,  must  be 
correlated  and  adjusted  or  they  become  intolerable.  The 
rights  with  which  man  is  endowed  and  the  duties  which 
he  must  fulfil  must  be  defined  and  safeguarded,  or  they 
will  be  overrun  and  neglected.  The  purpose  of  the  State, 
through  its  institutions  and  laws,  is  to  interpret  and  define 
these  relations,  to  throw  over  them  the  mantle  of  its  pro- 
tection, and  to  hallow  them  with  its  authority.  In  what 
we  call  the  State  we  have  the  substitution  of  a  general, 
beneficent,  definite,  universal  will  for  an  uncertain,  arbi- 
trary, personal,  fractional  will.  As  members  of  society 
each  man  consents  to  have  his  interests  interpreted  and 
measured  by  the  common  will  and  welfare,  instead  of  his 
personal  and  special  will  and  wish.  In  case  of  a  conflict 
of  wills  and  interests,  each  agrees  to  settle  the  questions 
at  issue  by  an  appeal  to  this  common  interest  and  verdict. 
-The  nature  of  the  State  in  this  part  of  our  definition  is 
now  becoming  clear.  It  is  the  Institute  of  Right  Rela- 
tions ;  and  it  becomes  the  guarantee  to  each  man  that  his 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STATE 


29 


rights  shall  be  conserved,  and  his  proper  status  in  society 
maintained. 

IV.  The  State  is  the  Partnership  of  Men  in  all  Good.-  . 
Very  different  conceptions  of  the  nature  of  the  State  have 
been  promulgated  from  time  to  time.  These  conceptions 
range  from  the  very  lowest  minimum  of  State  action  to 
the  highest  point  of  social  control.  These  conceptions 
may  be  briefly  considered,  as  a  kind  of  background  against 
which  we  can  see  the  whole  picture. 

1.  It  has  been  maintained  that  the  State  is  a  jural  so- 
ciety. In  the  early  stages  of  their  associated  life  men 
feel  the  need  of  some  authority  which  shall  protect  their 
rights  and  shall  maintain  justice.  And  so  it  comes  about 
that  men  create  some  forms  of  political  control  which 
shall  maintain  their  private  interests  and  maintain  peace. 
The  State,  in  this  conception,  is  a  great  policeman  whose  / 
sole  function  it  is  to  prevent  disorder.  The  State  is  also 
a  judicial  authority  whose  business  it  is  to  adjust  differ- 
ences. Beyond  these  functions  the  State  can  claim  no 
authority.  It  is  needless  to  multiply  names,  but  some  great 
reputations  are  associated  with  this  conception.  Thus, 
Herbert  Spencer  declares  that  the  State  is  simply  a  com- 
mittee of  management,  and  it  has  no  intrinsic  authority; 
its  authority  is  given  by  those  appointing  it ;  and  it  has 
just  such  bounds  as  they  choose  to  impose  ("The  Man 
versus  The  State,"  p.  411).  Macaulay,  in  his  essay  on 
Gladstone's  "  Church  and  State,"  maintains  that  the  pri- 
mary end  of  government  is  the  protection  of  persons  and 
property ;  he  thinks  "  that  government  should  be  organ- 
ized solely  with  a  view  to  this  end."  This  conception,  it 
may  be  said,  is  true  so  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  does  not  go  far 
enough ;  in  fact,  it  ignores  those  very  things  which  have 
been  most  conspicuous  in  the  life  of  all  great  States.  It 
thinks  of  the  State  as  a  vast  machine  driven  by  the  forces 
of  public  and  private  interest — a  sort  of  huge  insurance 


3Q 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


society,  the  taxes  being  the  premium  (Lilly,  "  First 
Principles  in  Politics,"  p.  29). 

2.  It  is  maintained  that  the  State  is  an  economic  society. 
This  view,  it  may  be  said,  has  had  few  exponents  in  the 
past,  in  theory  at  least,  but  it  is  finding  many  defenders 
to-day  in  practice.  In  this  view  the  State  is  an  organi- 
zation for  the  promotion  of  man's  physical  and  commercial 
well-being,  and  when  this  is  conserved  the  State  has  ful- 
filled its  office.  Man  cannot  live  without  property,  and 
this  property  must  be  protected.  Human  well-being  is 
promoted  by  trade,  and  trade  must  be  extended.  The 
State  in  this  conception  furnishes  the  conditions  in  which 
each  man  can  best  advance  his  material  interests.    It  is 

*  evident  that  this  is  the  conception  of  the  State  which  holds 
the  first  place  in  the  mind  of  the  average  statesman  to- 
day. An  examination  of  the  measures  that  come  before 
the  modern  Congress  or  Parliament  or  Reichstag,  will 
reveal  the  fact  that  an  increasing  proportion  of  these 
measures  are  concerned  with  the  economic  interests  of 
the  people.  There  are  many  who  insist  that  the  State  has 
little  to  do  with  other  matters,  such  as  education  and 
morality ;  such  things  must  be  delegated  to  private  indi- 
viduals and  voluntary  associations. 

3.  Included  in  these  conceptions,  and  yet  rising  far  be- 
yond them,  we  find  the  conception  of  the  State  as  a  part- 
nership of  men  in  all  good.  Aristotle,  than  whom  no 
clearer  political  thinker  ever  lived,  maintained  that  civil 
society  was  not  founded  for  the  sake  of  preserving  and 
increasing  property.  "  Nor  was  civil  society  founded 
merely  in  order  that  its  members  might  live,  but  that  they 
might  live  well.  .  .  It  is  evident  then  that  a  State  is  not 
a  mere  community  of  place,  nor  established  for  the  sake  of 
mutual  safety  or  traffic.  A  State  is  a  society  of  people 
joining  together  with  their  families  and  their  children  to 
live  well,  for  the  sake  of  a  perfect  and  independent 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STATE 


31 


life"  ("Politics,"  Bk.  Ill,  chap.  ix).  The  same 
thought  runs  through  the  masterly  oration  of  Pericles, 
delivered  over  the  Athenians  who  fell  in  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian  war.  All  through  this  oration,  which  may  well 
be  the  model  of  its  kind,  there  runs  the  conception  of 
the  State,  not  as  a  mere  dwelling-place  for  men,  nor 
as  a  provision  for  their  material  well-being  alone,  but  as 
the  sphere  of  highest  activity.  The  great  words  of 
Burke  emphasize  the  same  truth,  and  are  worthy  of 
careful  consideration.  "  The  State  ought  not  to  be  con- 
sidered as  nothing  better  than  a  partnership  agreement  in 
a  trade  of  pepper  and  coffee,  calico  or  tobacco,  or  some 
other  such  low  concern,  to  be  taken  up  for  a  little  tempo- 
rary interest  and  to  be  dissolved  by  the  fancy  of  the 
parties.  It  is  to  be  looked  on  with  reverence ;  because  it  is 
not  a  partnership  in  things  subservient  only  to  the  gross 
animal  existence  of  a  temporary  and  perishable  nature. 
It  is  a  partnership  in  all  science ;  a  partnership  in  all 
art ;  a  partnership  in  every  virtue,  and  in  all  perfection  " 
("Reflections  on  the  Revolution  in  France"). 

The  State  we  find  is  the  one  organ  great  enough  and 
varied  enough  to  express  and  correlate  the  varied 
powers  and  talents  of  mankind,  the  one  medium  through 
which  all  men  can  co-operate  in  their  search  after  social 
perfection.  The  State  is  the  only  organ  through  which  - 
the  people  can  act  as  a  unit  in  their  pursuit  of  righteous- 
ness, and  it  is  the  only  medium  through  which  they  can 
act  together  in  the  organization  of  their  common  life  in 
truth.  The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  like  many  another  man, 
had  found  in  himself  the  desire  to  help  his  fellows  in  their 
struggle  after  better  things.  How  could  he  make  his 
desire  most  effective  and  himself  most  helpful?  By 
personal  work  with  individuals  he  might  have  inspired 
and  saved  a  soul  here  and  there,  but  by  working  for  the 
enactment  of  better  laws  regulating  factories  and  mines, 


32 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


by  bringing  the  power  of  Parliament  to  bear  upon  abuses 
and  wrongs,  and  by  enlisting  the  whole  life  of  the  nation 
on  behalf  of  the  downmost  man,  he  made  the  goodness 
and  wisdom,  the  power  and  love  of  the  whole  nation  the 
means  of  uplifting  and  helping  the  weaker  and  more 
backward.  There  must  be  some  medium  through  which 
men  can  work  in  giving  themselves  for  society.  The 
State  is  the  only  organ  great  enough  to  express  the  varied 
powers  of  man,  the  only  medium  through  which  men 
can  co-operate  in  the  attainment  of  the  social  perfection. 

V.  The  State  is  the  Realization  of  Man's  Rational  Life. 
This  end,  the  realization  of  man's  rational  life,  is  the 
one  end  in  view.  Alan  is  a  being  of  relationships,  and  he 
is  what  he  is  through  fellowship.  "  Individuality  does 
not  come  first  and  society  next  as  a  product.  Society  is 
fundamental,  and  is  an  essential  condition  for  self- 
consciousness.  However  contradictory  it  may  sound,  it 
is  nevertheless  the  fact,  that  there  could  be  no  self 
without  many  selves.  Self-consciousness  is  a  possible 
attainment  only  in  a  world  where  it  already  exists.  Per- 
sonality at  every  stage  involves  interrelation  "  (Jones, 
"  Social  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,"  p.  58).  "  To  be  a 
person  one  must  be  a  conscious  member  in  a  social  order. 
Man  is  what  he  is  because  he  is  a  member  of  society.  It 
is  impossible  to  be  a  person  without  being  in  a  broad 
sense  a  member  of  society,  a  citizen  of  a  State,  for  it  is 
through  the  organized  life  of  the  world  that  one  comes 
to  himself"  (Jones,  ibid.,  p.  74). 

The  State,  it  is  thus  seen,  has  a  most  vital  relation  to  the 
development  of  personality.  The  individual  comes  to 
self-consciousness  in  and  through  social  fellowship. 
Freedom,  morality,  personality,  and  perfection,  the  things 
that  give  meaning  and  dignity  to  life,  are  all  developed 
and  realized  in  and  through  the  social  organism.  Freedom 
can  be  realized  not  in  individual  caprice,  but  in  social 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  STATE 


33 


control.  Morality  can  be  realized  not  in  individual  iso- 
lation, but  in  social  relationships.  Personality  can  be 
realized  not  in  individual  independence  and  self-living,  but 
in  social  dependence  and  social  living.  Perfection  can  be 
realized  not  in  individual  self-seeking,  but  in  social  self- 
sacrifice.  In  the  State,  there  are  secured  and  maintained 
for  the  person  the  sphere  and  conditions  of  his  highest 
personal  development  in  freedom  and  morality.  The 
State  brings  the  wisdom  and  the  strength  of  all  to  bear 
upon  the  weakness  and  ignorance  of  each,  that  each  may 
become  wise  with  the  wisdom  and  strong  with  the 
strength  of  all.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  the  State, 
by  its  social  control,  secures  to  each  member  the  largest 
measure  of  personal  freedom,  as  the  State,  through  its 
social  organization,  provides  the  field  for  the  realization 
of  the  largest  measure  of  morality.  The  individual  comes 
vto  self-realization  as  he  sacrifices  himself  for  the  common 
life.  He  that  findeth  his  life  for  himself  shall  lose  it; 
but  he  that  loseth  his  life  in  the  State,  shall  find  it. 

There  can  be  no  conception  of  a  right  without  a  con- 
sciousness of  common  interests  on  the  part  of  the  members 
of  a  society.  And  there  can  be  no  realization  of  a  right 
except  in  and  through  the  social  organism.  The  person 
and  the  State  exist  in  organic  and  vital  relations  with  one 
another,  and  in  the  fulfilment  of  these  relations  the  normal 
development  of  each  is  secured.  The  State  is  not  some- 
thing external  and  formal,  something  apart  from  the 
essential  life  of  man,  some  arbitrary  and  conventional 
compact  for  securing  the  private  rights  of  individuals;  it 
is  something  organic  and  vital,  the  necessary  medium 
and  vital  organism  through  which  life  itself  is  conserved 
and  realized.  In  a  word,  man  is  here  to  fulfil  the  purpose 
of  God  and  to  realize  his  own  rational  life,  and  the 
State  is  one  of  the  agencies  through  which  this  purpose  is 
realized. 


34 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


We  are  now  in  a  position  to  gather  up  the  threads  and 
weave  them  into  a  full  conception.  There  are  certain 
necessary  and  vital  conditions  of  man's  life  in  society, 
and  there  must  be  some  institution  which  shall  concern 
itself  primarily  with  these  conditions.  There  is  in  all 
men  a  political  and  social  consciousness  which  draws  them 
together,  and  tends  ever  to  express  itself  in  social  and 
political  forms.  There  are  certain  necessary  relations 
that  subsist  among  men,  and  these  must  be  interpreted 
and  safeguarded.  Men  have  certain  interests,  personal, 
jural,  economic,  and  political,  but  over  and  above  these 
there  is  what  may  be  called  the  vital  interest.  There  are 
among  men  various  associations  for  various  purposes, 
economic,  educational,  social,  religious;  that  life  may  be- 
come a  unity  and  society  may  have  peace,  there  must 
be  some  synthesis  which  shall  include  these  partial  inter- 
ests, and  some  association  which  shall  correlate  all  lesser 
associations.  And  last  of  all,  since  the  supreme  interest 
of  man  is  the  promotion  of  human  welfare,  and  since 
true  progress  is  only  possible  through  the  co-operation  of 
all  for  the  sake  of  all,  there  must  be  some  agency  which 
shall  represent  the  interests  of  all,  and  shall  be  a  medium 
for  their  mutual  sacrifices  and  services.  This  organization 
and  association  and  agency  and  medium  is  what  we  may 
call  the  State.  The  State  is  thus  "  a  microcosm  of  the 
whole  human  process.  The  State  is  the  co-operation  of 
all  the  citizens  for  the  furtherance  of  all  the  interests 
of  which  they  are  conscious.  .  ."  The  State  embraces  all 
other  associations  of  persons.  "  All  lesser  associations 
find  their  correlation  within  the  State  "  (Small,  "  General 
Sociology,"  pp.  226,  227). 


II 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 

IN  the  study  before  us,  we  are  concerned  not  alone  with 
the  outward  and  visible  stages  through  which  the 
State  has  passed  in  its  progress  from  beginning  to  ma- 
turity; but  we  are  concerned  as  well  with  its  primary 
causes,  and  are  interested  in  knowing  the  social  forces  that 
bring  men  together.  These  outward  and  visible  stages 
can  be  traced  with  comparative  ease  in  the  history  of  any 
of  the  great  States.  But  these  inner  and  causative  forces 
must  be  found  rather  in  the  nature  of  man  and  the  meaa- 
ing  of  society.  The  fact  is  one  thing,  and  the  cause  of 
the  fact  is  quite  another.  It  is  through  the  knowledge  of 
the  fact,  however,  that  we  are  led  back  to  the  knowledge 
of  its  causes.  And  it  is  through  the  knowledge  of  the  fact 
and  its  causes  that  we  are  led  on  into  a  knowledge  of  its 
meaning  and  end.  When  this  is  attained,  knowledge  has 
fulfilled  its  task,  and  the  way  is  prepared  for  action. 

The  theories  that  have  been  advanced  from  time  to 
time  to  explain  the  origin  of  the  State  are  simply  innu- 
merable and  deal  with  all  aspects  of  the  question.  But 
beneath  all  this  diversity,  it  is  found  that  these  theories 
arrange  themselves  in  certain  more  or  less  definite 
classes.  These  characteristic  and  outstanding  views  we 
may  now  briefly  consider. 

I.  The  State  as  a  Divine  Creation.  This  is  the  earliest 
view,  and  it  is  the  view  that  has  had  many  advocates  all 
through  the  centuries.  According  to  this  conception  the 
State  is  the  creation  of  God,  either  direct  or  indirect, 
and  so  it  may  be  regarded  as  the  human  revelation  of  his 

35 


36 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


divine  government.  Among  the  earliest  peoples  of  whom 
we  have  clear  knowledge,  the  Semites,  we  find  this  con- 
ception in  full  expression  even  in  the  most  primitive  times. 
In  this  conception  every  human  being,  simply  by  virtue 
of  his  birth,  became  a  member  of  what  we  call  natural 
society.  "  This  circle  into  which  he  was  born  was  not 
simply  a  group  of  kinsfolk  and  fellow-citizens,  but  em- 
braced also  certain  divine  beings,  the  gods  of  the  family 
and  of  the  State,  which  to  the  ancient  mind  were  as  much 
a  part  of  a  particular  community  ...  as  the  human  mem- 
bers of  the  social  circle  "  (W.  Robertson  Smith,  "  The  Re- 
ligion of  the  Semites,"  p.  29).  If  a  god  was  spoken  of  as 
father  and  his  worshipers  as  his  offspring,  the  meaning 
was  that  the  worshipers  were  literally  of  his  stock.  In  all 
cases  also  where  the  god  was  addressed  as  king  and  the 
worshipers  called  themselves  his  servants,  it  was  implied 
that  the  supreme  guidance  of  the  State  was  in  his  hands 
(W.  Robertson  Smith,  ibid.,  p.  30).  In  all  these  concep- 
tions the  social  organization  and  the  religious  system 
rest  upon  the  same  common  foundation,  and  no  distinction 
is  made  between  them.  This  means  that  the  social  order 
has  a  religious  basis,  and  that  the  god  of  the  people  is 
the  creator  of  their  political  relations. 

This  conception  lay  at  the  basis  of  the  Jewish  State, 
and  finds  expression  all  through  the  nation's  history. 
Lawgivers  and  prophets  emphasize  the  thought  that  it 
was  Jehovah  who  had  made  Israel  to  be  a  people ;  it  was 
Jehovah  who  had  called  Abram  and  had  guided  the 
fathers  of  the  nation ;  it  was  Jehovah  who  had  led  them 
out  of  Egypt  and  had  given  them  a  law  for  their  national 
life;  it  was  Jehovah  who  was  their  sole  and  rightful  king, 
and  it  was  his  law  that  they  were  to  obey.  Lawgiver 
and  judges  may  be  given  from  time  to  time,  but  these  are 
the  spokesmen  and  representatives  of  Jehovah ;  the  law- 
giver is  to  hear  the  word  at  Jehovah's  mouth  and  speak 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 


37 


it  to  the  people;  and  the  judge  is  charged  to  judge  right- 
eously, for  the  judgment  is  the  Lord's.  When  the  people  at 
last  demand  a  visible  king  who  shall  reign  over  them  and 
lead  their  armies,  Jehovah  declares  that  they  have  not 
rejected  merely  his  representative,  but  "  they  have  re- 
jected me  that  I  should  not  be  king  over  them  "  ( I  Sam. 
8:7).  When  at  a  later  time  the  people,  through  their 
representatives,  declared,  We  have  no  king  but  Caesar, 
Judaism  was  guilty  of  a  denial  of  God,  of  blasphemy,  of 
apostasy.  It  committed  suicide  (Edersheim,  "Life  and 
Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah,"  Vol.  II,  p.  581). 

It  is  not  necessary  to  consider  the  various  forms  of  this 
theory.  With  many  modifications,  it  was  the  one  adopted 
by  the  Romans  to  account  for  the  origin  of  their  State ; 
and  it  was  the  view  of  the  Greeks  and  Egyptians,  and  in 
fact  of  practically  all  nations  of  the  world. 

It  may  be  said  in  criticism  of  this  view  that  no  State  can 
be  found  whose  origin  is  clearly  a  divine  creation.  This 
view  is  formulated  late  in  the  life  of  a  people  to  account 
for  its  existence  and  as  a  reason  for  fidelity  to  the  gods. 
It  has  given  occasion  for  all  sorts  of  pretensions  and  usur- 
pations on  the  part  of  human  rulers.  On  the  one  hand  it 
has  given  rise  to  priest  rule,  which  always  and  everywhere 
has  produced  evil  results ;  and  on  the  other  hand  it  has 
given  validity  to  the  assumption  of  the  divine  right  of 
kings  and  has  been  used  to  uphold  the  powers  that  be. 

II.  The  Patriarchal  Theory.  One  of  the  most  plausible 
and  prominent  theories  of  the  State  is  that  known  as  the 
patriarchal  theory.  In  this  view  it  is  maintained  that 
whatever  social  organization  existed  originated  in  kin- 
ship. "  The  Patriarchal  theory  of  society  is  the  theory 
of  its  origin  in  separate  families,  held  together  by  the 
authority  and  protection  of  the  eldest  valid  male  descend- 
ant "  (Maine,  "  Early  Hist,  of  Inst.") .  "  The  original  bond 
of  union  and  the  original  sanction  of  magisterial  authority 


38 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


were  one  and  the  same,  namely,  real  or  feigned  blood 
relationship.  In  other  words,  families  were  the  original 
units  of  social  organization  "  (Wilson,  "  The  State,"  pp. 
2,  3).  By  degrees,  and  driven  by  hard  necessity,  these 
families  spread  over  new  territory,  and  came  into  contact 
with  other  families  and  groups.  "  All  the  evidence  we 
possess,  says  Westermarck,  tends  to  show  that  among  our 
earliest  human  ancestors  the  family,  not  the  tribe,  formed 
the  nucleus  of  every  social  group,  and  in  many  cases  was 
itself  perhaps  the  only  social  group"  ("  History  of  Hu- 
man Marriage,"  p.  538).  In  this  social  group  the  father 
ruled  as  king  and  priest,  and  as  long  as  the  father  lived 
there  was  no  majority  for  the  sons.  Their  lives  and  their 
property  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  absolute  father- 
sovereign,  and  all  who  would  live  in  the  family  must 
accept  his  authority.  This  made  a  firm  and  compact 
group  which  meant  safety  and  protection  to  all  within  its 
circle.  "  Such  a  group  naturally  broadens  out  in  the 
course  of  time  into  the  house  or  gens,  and  over  this  too, 
a  chief  kinsman  rules  "  (Wilson,  ibid.,  p.  7).  New  mem- 
bers may  be  admitted  into  this  house,  through  a  real  or 
assumed  blood-kinship,  but  they  are  all  subject  to  the 
same  authority.  As  time  passes  and  the  father  of  the 
family  dies,  his  people  deify  him,  and  this  becomes  a  new 
bond  of  union.  The  family  is  now  a  religious  brother- 
hood, worshiping  some  common  hero  who  has  become  a 
god,  and  thus  the  bond  of  blood  is  strengthened  by  the 
sanctions  of  religion.  In  course  of  time  this  house  or 
gens  broadens  out,  and  comes  into  contact  with  other 
houses  or  groups.  In  the  struggle  that  follows  one  or  the 
other  must  go  down,  and  here  we  observe  two  things : 
Sometimes  this  conquered  gens  finds  some  blood-kinship 
with  the  conquerors,  in  which  case  the  weaker  is  absorbed 
by  the  stronger.  Sometimes,  however,  the  weaker  is 
reduced  to  subjection,  and  we  have  the  beginning  of  a 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 


39 


servile  class  in  the  tribe.  But  this  new  group  becomes  a 
tribe,  or  clan.  And  this  same  process  is  continued  and 
one  tribe  absorbs  others,  and  these  again  unite  to  form  the 
State.  By  and  by  this  composite  tribe  obtains  a  local 
habitation  and  a  name,  and  becomes  a  settled  nation. 
"  The  family  was  the  primal  unit  of  political  society,  and 
the  seed-bed  of  all  larger  growths  of  government  "  (Wil- 
son, "The  State,"  p.  13). 

The  patriarchal  family  is  no  doubt  one  of  the  earliest 
forms  of  family  life.  The  book  of  Genesis  carries  us  back 
to  the  early  times,  and  shows  us  this  form  of  the  family 
in  full  development.  The  patriarchal  government  was 
no  doubt  one  of  the  earliest  forms,  and  traces  of  it  are 
to  be  found  in  many  lands.  The  father  had  the  right  to 
govern  his  household ;  authorship  was  the  root  of  author- 
ity. In  the  early  Semitic  family  the  father  was  supreme 
over  his  household,  even  in  questions  of  life  and  death. 
In  the  early  Roman  empire  the  father  retained  a  pro- 
prietary right  in  his  gens  or  household,  and  with  this  the 
State  had  little  or  nothing  to  do. 

Without  attempting  a  formal  discussion  or  criticism 
of  this  theory,  it  may  be  said  that  it  fails  to  account 
for  the  State  itself.  It  has  to  do  with  the  forms  through 
which  the  State  passes  in  its  growth,  but  it  does  not 
account  for  the  causes  and  forces  that  create  the 
State.  By  no  possible  means  could  the  State  have  de- 
veloped out  of  the  small  unit  called  the  family.  The 
two  institutions  are  different  in  essence,  as  the  rights 
and  powers  which  belong  to  the  State  wholly  tran- 
scend those  that  inhere  in  the  family.  The  right  of 
the  father  to  govern  his  household  grows  out  of  the  fact 
of  authorship ;  but  this  authority  is  necessarily  limited  to 
his  children,  and  cannot  be  extended  over  aliens.  Just  so 
far  as  it  is  extended  over  others  it  conflicts  with  the  unity 
0*  the  family,  and  finds  its  justification  in  some  other  fact 


40 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


than  in  authorship.  There  may  be  some  resemblance  be- 
tween the  father's  rule  over  his  children  and  the  State's 
authority  over  its  members ;  but  it  has  not  been  shown 
that  any  actual  State  has  grown  out  of  the  family.  "  The 
evidence  of  history  shows  that  where  society  has  not 
passed  beyond  the  development  of  the  family,  there  has 
been  no  national  existence"  (Mulford,  "The  Nation," 
P-  39)- 

III.  The  Theory  of  Conquest.  The  origin  of  the  State 
has  been  found  in  the  conquest  of  the  weaker  by  the 
stronger.  According  to  this  view,  the  State  is  the  product 
of  force.  This  theory,  it  may  be  said,  has  had  many  ex- 
ponents, and  it  is  finding  wide  currency  in  these  times. 
Thus  Plutarch  ascribes  this  saying  to  Brennus  the  Gallic 
king :  "  The  most  ancient  of  all  laws,  which  extends 
from  gods  to  the  beasts,  gives  to  the  stronger  rule  over 
the  weaker  "  ("  Life  of  Camillus  ").  In  these  later  times 
Count  Tolstoy  opposes  the  State  conception  of  life  on 
the  ground  that  the  State  is  a  usurpation.  "  Without  the 
aggrandizement  of  self  and  the  abasement  of  others,  with- 
out hypocrisies  and  deceptions,  without  prisons,  fortresses, 
executions,  and  murders,  no  power  can  come  into  exist- 
ence or  be  maintained"  (Tolstoy,  "The  Kingdom  of 
God  is  Within  You,"  p.  242).  As  government  begins  in 
usurpation  and  self-aggrandizement,  so  it  continues  in 
social  tyranny  and  oppression. 

This  view  is  also  advocated  by  many  modern  sociolo- 
gists, and  in  a  way  seems  to  be  the  sociological  theory.  "  It 
is  a  commonplace  of  history  that  the  unceasing  agglomer- 
ation of  communities  has  never  been  due  to  the  mutual 
attraction  of  peoples.  .  .  Not  sentiment,  but  invariably 
force  or  the  dread  of  force  has  called  into  being  that  most 
extensive  of  co-operations,  the  State "  (Ross,  "  Social 
Control,"  p.  18).  "The  earliest  state-building  forces  are 
greed  and  fear ;  that  is,  groups  ally  themselves  in  order  to 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 


4T 


make  or  to  resist  attack.  People  dread  the  enemy,  and 
hence  cheerfully  submit  to  the  yoke  of  the  war  leader. 
They  tremble  before  the  predatory,  and  therefore  rally 
around  a  power  that  can  make  law  respected.  These  fear- 
forces  are  strongly  seconded  by  the  love  of  power  which 
impels  the  masterful  to  supply  more  government  than 
is  needed.  In  time  the  absolute  State  arises  in  all  its  grim- 
ness  and  men  start  back  in  affright  before  the  Franken- 
stein they  have  created"  (Ross,  "The  Foundations  of 
Sociology,"  p.  175).  Under  such  circumstances,  a  few 
wise  and  strong  men  who  will  agree  to  maintain  order 
and  repel  the  aggressors,  are  allowed  to  seat  themselves  in 
the  saddle.  Around  these  strong  men,  be  they  few  or 
many,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  gather  themselves. 
Thus  a  little  group  is  formed,  compact  and  strong,  that 
soon  subdues  any  opposing  groups.  The  great  and  grow- 
ing mass  of  evidence  shows,  says  Professor  Ross,  that 
"  the  historical  State,  has  in  almost  every  instance  taken 
its  origin  in  the  violent  superposition  of  one  people  upon 
another.  Born  in  aggression  and  perfected  in  exploitation, 
the  State,  even  now,  when  it  is  more  and  more  directed  by 
the  common  will,  is  not  easy  to  keep  from  slipping  back 
into  the  rut  it  wore  for  itself  during  the  centuries  it  was 
the  engine  of  a  parasitic  class  "  (Social  Control,"  p.  386). 

It  must  be  confessed  that  governments  have  given  too 
much  reason  for  this  theory  of  the  State.  But  we  are 
searching  for  origins,  and  are  concerned  not  alone  with 
results,  but  with  causes.  This  view  lies  open  to  very 
serious  objection,  and  it  cannot  stand  in  the  light  of  all 
the  facts.  We  may  grant  that  might  has  been  the  basis  of 
many  of  the  governments  of  the  world  thus  far,  but  this 
might  does  not  serve  as  an  adequate  foundation  of  the 
State.  For,  what  causal  necessity  is  there  between  might 
and  right?  Force  may  have  produced  certain  govern- 
ments and  sustained  them  for  a  time,  but  upon  force  alone 


42 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


no  great  State  has  ever  been  built.  Superior  force  and 
physical  power  can  never  add  themselves  up  and  yield  a 
right.  "  Every  polity,  however  rude,  requires  the  ideas 
of  right,  and  of  law  for  the  maintenance  of  right.  Might, 
without  these  ideas,  would  not  give  rise  to  a  common- 
wealth, but  to  a  gang  of  robbers ;  to  anarchy  plus  the 
sword"  (Lilly,  "First  Principles  in  Politics,"  p.  19). 
Besides,  the  theory  before  us  fails  to  go  to  the  root  of  the 
matter,  and  the  doctrine  contradicts  itself  at  the  most  vital 
points.  For  one  thing  it  recognizes  only  masters  and 
slaves,  and  is  thus  a  flagrant  contradiction  of  human  free- 
dom. For  another  thing  "  it  contradicts  the  idea  of  Right 
or  Law,  which  manifestly  has  a  spiritual  and  moral  sig- 
nificance ;  mere  physical  force  ought  to  serve  right  and, 
if  it  pretends  to  be  right,  it  has  risen  against  its  proper 
master  "  (Bluntschli,  "  The  Theory  of  the  State,"  p.  293). 
And  last  of  all,  it  assumes  that  the  fact  of  authority  creates 
the  sentiment  of  obedience,  whereas  the  sentiment  of 
obedience  itself  justifies  authority.  It  is  sometimes  said 
that  priestcraft — to  take  a  somewhat  parallel  illustration — 
is  the  creator  of  religion ;  that  the  priests  have  invented 
religion  to  justify  their  claims  and  to  keep  the  people  in 
submission.  But  this  explanation  is  a  complete  inversion 
of  the  facts ;  for  the  presence  of  a  priesthood  is  an 
evidence  of  religion  among  the  people,  and  it  is  this 
religious  sentiment  that  tolerates  the  assumptions  of  the 
priests.  In  like  manner  the  strong  aggressor  may  usurp 
the  authority  of  the  State  and  may  rule  with  a  high  hand  ; 
but  the  political  instinct  of  the  people  accepts  this  usurpa- 
tion, and  the  tyrant  appeals  to  this  sentiment  in  justifica- 
tion of  his  claims.  This  sentiment  exists  in  men,  other- 
wise they  would  not  submit  to  the  authority  of  one  man. 
"  A  monarch  is  not  remarkable  for  bodily  strength  or  in- 
tellect, and  yet  millions  permit  themselves  to  be  ruled  by 
him.   To  say  that  men  permit  themselves  to  be  governed 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 


43 


contrary  to  their  interests,  ends,  and  intentions,  is  pre- 
posterous, since  men  are  not  so  stupid.  It  is  their  need, 
and  the  inner  power  of  the  idea  which  urge  them  to  this, 
in  opposition  to  their  seeming  consciousness,  and  retain 
them  in  this  relation"  (Hegel,  "The  Philosophy  of 
Right,"  sec.  281).  Again:  "Often  it  is  imagined  that 
force  holds  the  State  together,  but  the  binding  cord  is 
nothing  else  than  the  deep-seated  feeling  of  order  which  is 
possessed  by  all"  (ibid.,  sec.  268). 

IV.  The  Social  Contract.  This  theory  is  one  of  the 
most  subtle  and  significant  ever  framed.  During  the  last 
two  hundred  years  no  theory  of  the  State  has  been  more 
widely  accepted,  or  exerted  a  more  potent  influence  over 
political  action.  Some  of  the  most  illustrious  names  are 
connected  with  this  theory,  as  Hobbes  and  Locke,  Grotius 
and  Kant,  Rousseau  and  Jefferson ;  in  exposition  and 
application  of  this  theory  there  has  been  created  a  litera- 
ture of  incomparable  power  and  richness ;  men  have  ap- 
pealed to  it  against  governments  and  in  behalf  of  revolu- 
tion ;  and  two  most  significant  documents,  the  American 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  French  Declaration 
of  the  Rights  of  Man  and  of  the  Citizen,  are  simply  the 
formulations  of  this  theory.  It  is  not  necessary  for  our 
purpose  to  attempt  to  trace  the  rise  and  development 
of  this  theory.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  it  was  sug- 
gested by  Thomas  Hooker  in  his  "  Ecclesiastical  Polity," 
in  1594;  and  Locke  finds  its  underlying  ideas  plainly 
expressed  in  a  speech  of  King  James  to  Parliament  in 
1609.  Professor  Willoughby  shows  that  the  whole  feudal 
system  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  saturated  with  the  ideas 
of  this  social  contract.  But  the  names  of  three  men  must  /  . 
forever  be  associated  with  the  development  and  illustra- 
tion of  the  theory,  Hobbes,  Locke,  and  Rousseau. 

It  is  assumed  in  this  theory  that  men  existed  in  what  is 
called  a  state  of  nature,  and  that  they  were  free,  happy, 


44 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


and  prosperous.  In  this  state  men  were  all  equal,  and 
all  possessed  certain  natural  and  inalienable  rights.  Thus 
Rousseau  declares  in  the  opening  chapter  of  "  The  Social 
Contract,"  that  "  Man  is  born  free,  and  everywhere  he  is 
in  chains."  This  man,  in  some  ways  one  of  the  most 
potent  personalities  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  him- 
self little  more  than  an  echo,  putting  into  clear  and  un- 
derstandable and  popular  terms  the  thoughts  and  theories 
of  other  and  greater  thinkers.  It  had  been  assumed  by 
Locke  and  Hobbes  that  men  at  first  had  lived  in  a  state  of 
nature,  and  they  were  more  or  less  happy  and  contented. 
But  this  state  of  nature,  free  and  desirable  as  it  was  in 
many  respects,  yet  had  some  serious  drawbacks  and  dis- 
advantages. Among  these  latter  were  the  aggressions 
which  men  inflicted  upon  their  fellows,  and  which  seri- 
ously interfered  with  their  happiness  and  prosperity. 
In  this  state  of  nature  all  men  felt  free  to  follow  their  own 
inclinations  and  interests  without  any  respect  to  the  rights 
and  preferences  of  their  neighbors.  But  such  a  state  with 
all  of  its  advantages,  was  a  state  of  mutual  fear  and  cease- 
less strife,  and  in  such  a  condition  there  could  be  no 
law,  and  no  justice.  These  men,  dwelling  in  a  state  of 
nature,  early  felt  the  need  of  combination  and  co-operation 
for  certain  social  and  commercial  purposes.  These  men 
voluntarily  agreed  to  form  a  social  State  for  the  protec- 
tion of  their  rights  and  the  effectuation  of  certain  definite 
ends.  The  time  came,  however,  when  these  men  entered 
into  covenant  with  one  another  and  adopted  certain 
rules  and  laws  for  their  governance  and  security.  But 
these  laws  and  rules  cannot  execute  themselves,  and 
so  it  is  necessary  that  certain  men  be  chosen  as 
rulers  in  the  State  who  shall  represent  its  authority 
and  execute  its  decrees.  According  to  Rousseau  "  The 
public  force  then  requires  a  suitable  agent  to  concentrate 
it,  and  put  it  in  action  according  to  the  directions  of 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 


45 


the  general  will,  to  serve  as  a  means  of  communication 
between  the  State  and  the  sovereign,  to  effect  in  some 
manner  in  the  public  person  what  the  union  of  soul  and 
body  effects  in  a  man."  This  is,  in  the  State,  the  function 
of  the  government,  and  is  improperly  confounded  with 
the  sovereign  of  which  it  is  only  the  minister. 

What  then  is  the  government?  An  intermediate  body 
established  between  the  subjects  and  the  sovereign  for 
their  mutual  correspondence,  charged  with  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws  and  with  the  maintenance  of  liberty, 
both  civil  and  political  ("  Social  Contract,"  Bk.  Ill, 
chap.  i).  The  various  exponents  of  the  theory  differ 
somewhat  in  many  details,  and  in  none  more  markedly 
than  in  the  question  of  sovereignty,  but  they  all  agree 
in  this,  that  the  source  of  all  sovereignty  is  in  the 
people  themselves.  Each  man,  by  a  natural  and  im- 
prescriptible right  holds  a  certain  proportion  of  sover- 
eignty, and  the  sovereignty  of  the  State  is  simply  the 
sum  of  these  individual  wills.  Locke  claims  that  this 
original  compact  between  the  members  of  the  State  must 
be  renewed  from  generation  to  generation  in  the  person 
of  every  citizen  when  he  comes  to  the  age  of  discretion. 
In  Rousseau  the  distinction  between  sovereign  and  gov- 
ernment is  hopelessly  confused,  and  "  while  he  makes 
government  but  the  servant  for  executing  the  will  of 
the  State,  he  makes  this  will  practically  identical  with 
the  popular  demand.  The  permanence  of  all  government 
,and  its  authority  is  thus  practically  destroyed"  (Wil- 
loughby,  "  The  Nature  of  the  State,"  p.  79). 

This  view  has  had  a  marked  influence  upon  the  thought 
and  life  of  mankind  since  Rousseau's  time.  It  may  be 
said  to  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  Revolution  in  France,  and 
it  finds  expression  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States ;  it  is  also  the  working  theory  in  the  democratic 
States  of  to-day,  both  in  America  and  in  Europe.  This 


46 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


theory  did  good  service  in  opposing  the  arbitrary  and 
monarchical  governments  which  claimed  to  rule  by  divine 
right  without  being  answerable  in  any  way  to  the  people. 
To  attempt  a  formal  criticism  of  it  is  not  necessary,  for 
this  work  has  been  well  done  by  others.  "  Natural 
Rights,"  by  Professor  Ritchie,  and  "  The  Nature  of  the 
State,"  by  Professor  Willoughby,  may  be  named  in  this 
connection.  There  are,  however,  several  counts  in  the 
indictment  that  may  be  here  noted. 

For  one  thing,  this  theory  rests  upon  a  wrong  interpre- 
tation of  the  facts  of  life  and  the  nature  of  man.  One  may 
search  history  through  and  he  will  not  find  an  instance 
of  any  State,  however  small  or  large,  that  has  ever  been 
formed  in  this  way.  The  theory  presupposes  individuals 
as  contracting,  when  the  researches  of  Maine  and  others 
show  that  in  early  times  law  was  applicable  not  so  much 
to  the  individual  as  to  the  family,  and  that  in  fact,  in 
those  early  times  the  individual  as  such  counted  for 
almost  nothing.  "  In  addition  to  this,  there  is,  of  course, 
a  manifest  absurdity  in  conceiving  a  sufficient  mental 
qualification  for  such  a  formal  act  on  the  part  of  a  people 
in  the  very  first  stages  of  civilization "  (Willoughby, 
"  The  Nature  of  the  State,"  p.  117). 

The  theory  also  rests  upon  a  complete  misinterpreta- 
tion of  the  nature  of  man.  In  the  first  place  no  such 
men  as  this  theory  assumes  have  ever  been  found.  On 
the  contrary,  everything  confirms  the  statement  of  Prof. 
Max  Miiller  that,  "  Go  where  you  will,  no  people  is  ever 
found  without  some  form  of  government,  with  laws  and 
religion,  and  the  beginnings  at  least  of  a  civil  society." 
"  As  far  as  we  go  back  in  the  paleo-ethnology  of  man- 
kind," says  Kropotkin,  "  we  find  men  living  in  societies — 
in  tribes  similar  to  those  of  the  highest  mammals.  .  .  So- 
cieties, bands,  or  tribes — not  families — were  thus  the 
primitive  form  of  organization  of  mankind  and  its 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 


47 


earliest  ancestors.  This  is  what  ethnology  has  come  to  after 
its  painstaking  researches"  (Kropotkin,  "Mutual  Aid," 
p.  79).  In  human  history,  whatever  has  been  found  that  is 
great  and  admirable  and  free  has  been  found  in  governed 
communities.  In  nothing  is  the  progress  of  a  people  in 
the  scale  of  life  so  accurately  measured  as  in  the  degree  of 
their  social  co-operation  and  governmental  control.  Men 
who  approximate  the  state  of  nature  as  it  is  called, 
are  destitute  of  the  things  that  make  life  worthy  and 
admirable. 

There  is  another  most  fatal  objection  that  may  be 
filed  against  this  theory.  It  assumes  that  men  in  a 
state  of  nature  possess  rights  which  are  antecedent  to 
any  social  order,  and  that  men  create  the  State  that 
these  rights  may  be  conserved.  But  it  is  a  delusion  to 
suppose  that  what  are  called  innate  rights  existed  apart 
from  society.  For  the  very  consciousness  of  the  individ- 
ual and  his  rights  implies  a  social  consciousness  and  a 
social  order.  That  is,  the  very  conception  of  a  person  who 
claims  rights  for  himself,  assumes  that  there  are  other 
persons  against  whom  he  makes  his  claims.  The  very 
conception  of  the  right  implies  that  these  persons  are  re- 
lated in  some  way.  It  is  in  and  through  the  relation  and 
inter-relation  of  members  of  a  social  order  that  the  per- 
son comes  to  self-consciousness  and  learns  to  conceive  of 
certain  rights  as  belonging  to  his  personality.  The  very 
ability  to  discuss  and  classify  rights  implies  a  society  in 
which  men  are  becoming  conscious  of  the  relations  in 
which  its  members  stand  to  one  another.  This  social 
contract  theory  falls  to  the  ground  at  its  first  steps,  and 
utterly  fails  to  explain  the  facts  of  life. 

And  last  of  all,  the  theory  fails  to  account  for  the 
consciousness  which  impels  men  to  form  political  associ- 
ations. Either  there  was  a  political  consciousness  prior 
to  the  contract  or  there  was  not.    If  the  consciousness  is 


48 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


prior  to  the  contract,  the  theory  is  disproved  at  the  very 
beginning.  If  the  contract  is  the  cause  of  the  conscious- 
ness, the  theory  is  also  negatived,  for  this  implies  rational 
action  without  reason  and  social  fellowship  without 
social  consciousness,  which  are  both  absurd.  It  is  very 
evident  that  no  contract  between  individuals  can  possess 
a  political  character  unless  there  is  already  present  a 
social  consciousness  that  is  above  and  before  the  contract . 
itself.  No  number  of  individual  wills  can  add  themselves 
up  and  yield  a  common  will.  No  surrender  of  any  num- 
ber of  personal  rights  can  produce  a  social  and  political 
right.  The  State,  which  is  the  organ  of  the  political  con- 
sciousness of  its  members,  cannot  by  any  possibility,  come 
into  being  out  of  the  consciousness  of  isolated  indi- 
viduals. In  the  words  of  Bluntschli :  "  For  practical 
politics  this  doctrine  is  in  the  highest  degree  dangerous, 
since  it  makes  the  State  and  its  institutions  the  product  of 
individual  caprice,  and  declares  it  to  be  changeable  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  the  individuals  then  living.  .  . 
It  is  to  be  considered,  therefore,  a  theory  of  anarchy 
rather  than  a  political  doctrine"  ("The  Theory  of  the 
State,"  Bk.  IV,  chap.  ix). 

V.  The  Natural  Sociability  of  Man.  This  is  the  view 
of  Bluntschli  and  others,  and,  with  variations  and  modi- 
fications, it  is  the  view  that  is  more  or  less  prevalent 
to-day.  The  author  named  declares  that  it  is  not  enough 
to  refute  the  current  speculative  theories,  but  we  must  en- 
deavor to  discover  the  one  common  cause  of  the  rise  of 
States.  This  common  cause  he  thinks  we  find  in  human 
nature,  which  besides  its  tendency  to  individual  diversity, 
has  in  it  tendencies  of  community  and  unity.  "  Thus  the 
inward  impulse  to  society  produces  external  organization 
of  common  life  in  the  form  of  manly  self-government — 
that  is,  in  the  form  of  the  State"  (The  Theory  of  the 
State,"  Bk.  IV,  chap.  x). 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 


49 


This  social  tendency,  we  are  told,  works  at  first  in- 
stinctively and  unconsciously.  The  many  look  up,  half 
with  trust  and  half  with  fear,  to  a  leader  by  whose  cour- 
age and  genius  they  are  impressed,  and  whom  they  honor 
as  the  supreme  expression  of  their  community.  At  first 
this  consciousness  of  community  is  found  chiefly  in  the 
leaders  of  the  people,  but  in  time  it  extends  itself  among 
the  more  intelligent  classes,  until  at  last  it  permeates  the 
lower  orders  in  society  and  becomes  active  and  effective 
in  all. 

v  This  view  has  many  things  in  its  favor,  and  it  approxi- 
mates the  true  conception.  It  recognizes  the  necessity 
of  the  State,  and  it  grounds  the  State  in  the  nature  of 
man.  It  declares  that  the  State  is  the  natural  and  ap- 
pointed work  of  man,  and  it  recognizes  the  fact  that  it  is 
a  potent  agency  of  progress  in  society.  "  The  State  is 
the  fulfilment  of  the  common  order,  and  the  organization 
for  the  perfection  of  the  common  life  in  all  public  mat- 
ters "  (Bluntschli,  "The  Theory  of  the  State,"  Bk.  IV, 
chap.  x).  So  far  as  it  goes,  therefore,  this  theory  is  satis- 
*  factory  enough,  but  it  does  not  fully  solve  the  problem 
before  us.  For  "  to  speak  of  the  State  as  naturally  cre- 
ated, makes  of  it  an  entity  independent  of  man,  uncreated 
by  him,  and  as  such,  not  requiring  justification  in  his 
eyes.  .  .  To  say  that  political  authority  is  natural  neither 
answers  the  question  as  to  how  its  empirical  manifesta- 
tion is  brought  about,  nor  shows  the  manner  in  which  its 
control  over  the  individual  is  harmonized  with  the  latter's 
natural  freedom"  (Willoughby,  "The  Nature  of  the 
State,"  pp.  33,  34). 

This  brings  us  to  the  last  view  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  State. 

VI.  The  Origin  of  the  State  in  the  Nature  of  Man  and 
the  Purpose  of  God.  In  the  statement  of  this  view 
several  things  are  to  be  noted.   The  first  is  what  may  be 

D 


50 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


called  the  fact  of  organic  solidarity.  The  crowning  dis- 
v/covery  of  this  modern  age,  says  President  Moss,  is  the 
unity  of  the  universe,  the  oneness  of  all  things  visible 
and  invisible  in  one  great  system  of  matter  and  force  and 
law.  The  world,  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  evident, 
is  an  organic  totality,  and  all  things  move  together  because 
all  things  are  linked  together.  One  thing  is  as  it  is 
because  all  other  things  are  as  they  are.  "  It  is  a 
mathematical  fact,"  says  Carlyle,  "  that  the  casting  of 
this  stone  from  my  hand  changes  the  center  of  gravity 
of  the  universe."  The  entire  universe  is  one  great  system, 
and  atom  is  linked  with  atom  and  star  is  bound  to  star 
by  ties  that  are  most  real.  But  the  facts  of  the  physical 
and  material  world  are  only  so  many  parables  of  human 
life  and  its  relations,  and  from  the  one  we  may  learn 
much  concerning  the  other. 

When  we  come  to  the  study  of  man  we  find  that  this 
fact  of  solidarity  becomes  most  real  and  important.  Man, 
by  the  very  constitution  of  his  being,  is  a  creature  of 
relationships ;  in  fact,  it  is  in  and  through  these  relation- 
ships that  he  comes  to  maturity  and  power.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  be  a  person  without  being  in  a  true  sense  a  mem- 
ber of  society,  for  it  is  in  and  through  the  life  of  others 
that  man  comes  to  be  himself.  The  law  is  written : 
You  cannot  live  by  yourself  alone  and  be  a  man  at  all. 
The  Creator  has  so  linked  the  race  together  that  no  man 
can  give  the  race  the  slip  and  rise  into  perfection  by  him- 
self. In  the  most  real  sense,  it  is  true  that  we  are  mem- 
bers one  of  another  and  dependent  the  one  upon  the  other. 
The  whole  race  is  bound  together  in  a  solidarity  of 
interests  and  responsibilities  in  which  the  one  and  the 
many  are  mutually  means  and  ends.  Adopting  the  figure 
of  the  apostle  we  may  say  that  "  The  whole  body  of  hu- 
manity fitly  framed  and  knit  together  through  that  which 
every  person  supplieth,  according  to  the  working  in  due 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 


51 


measure  of  each  several  part  maketh  the  increase  of  the 
body  unto  the  building  up  of  itself  in  love." 

The  second  thing  is  this :  that  in  all  living  beings  there 
is  an  instinct  and  impulse  toward  association,  and  this  is 
the  most  fundamental  fact  in  life.  It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  trace  the  beginnings  of  this  instinct  among  the 
lowly  forms  of  life,  for  it  is  found  in  the  rudiments  at 
least  in  creatures  that  are  far  down  in  the  scale.  The 
fact  is,  this  principle  of  association  is  practically  coeval 
with  life  itself  and  is  rooted  in  the  very  nature  of  things. 
But  we  are  considering  the  origin  of  the  State,  and  so 
we  are  concerned  more  intimately  with  what  may  be 
called  the  subjective  factors  in  the  making  of  States; 
that  is,  those  instincts  and  impulses  which  draw  men 
together  and  lead  them  to  unite  in  social  institutions. 
And  the  more  we  study  this  aspect  of  the  question  the 
more  real  and  potent  these  factors  appear.  If  one  were 
searching  for  the  beginnings  of  the  political  State  it 
would  be  necessary  to  search  far  down  among  the  social 
instincts  of  lowly  creatures,  for  these  instincts  are  every- 
where present  with  this  difference :  among  the  lowly 
creatures  we  find  the  instinct  of  mutual  aid  and  the  forms 
of  social  life;  but  we  find  also  that  this  is  unconscious 
and  instinctive.  But  when  we  come  to  the  world  of  man  we 
find  all  this  changed ;  for  the  tendency  which  among  ani- 
mals appears  as  an  impulse  and  instinct  more  or  less 
unconscious  and  automatic,  among  men  appears  as  an  im- 
pulse and  appetency  more  or  less  conscious  and  rational. 
Because  man  is  man,  by  nature  a  social  and  political  being, 
some  form  of  society  is  inevitable.  The  form  that  this 
society  shall  assume  at  any  time  or  in  any  place  will 
depend  upon  many  incidental  factors,  and  will  vary  ac- 
cording to  the  degree  and  quality  of  this  sense  of  human 
fellowship  and  social  obligation.  The  form  of  the  State 
in  any  age  and  land  is  thus  the  expression  of  the  political 


5^ 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


consciousness  of  the  people,  and  we  can  measure  the 
quality  of  this  consciousness  by  the  form  which  the  State 
assumes. 

In  fulfilment  of  their  strongest  imperatives,  men  have 
given  expression  to  their  political  consciousness  and 
founded  political  institutions.  They  have  done  this  more 
or  less  unconsciously  and  spontaneously,  but  in  all  they 
have  been  working  in  harmony  with  the  purpose  of  God 
in  the  world  and  with  the  meaning  of  their  own  nature. 
The  State,  like  all  other  vital  things,  is  a  growth  and  not 
a  manufacture.  And  since  man  is  by  nature  a  social  and 
political  being,  the  idea  of  the  State  is  grounded  in  his 
very  constitution  and  its  formal  appearance  is  only  a 
question  of  time.  And  since  man  is  a  vital  being,  the  idea 
of  the  State  is  itself  a  process  of  growth.  Thus  the  idea 
of  the  State,  which  is  implicit  in  man's  constitution,  be- 
comes explicit  in  and  through  the  processes  of  history 
and  the  unfoldings  of  life.  The  idea  creates  the  form  and 
finds  expression  through  it,  and  the  form  conserves  and 
perpetuates  the  idea.  Adopting  the  figure  of  Hegel  we 
v  may  say  that  "  the  idea  of  God  and  the  will  of  God  are  the 
factors  that  enter  into  the  making  of  society;  the  one  is 
the  warp  and  the  other  is  the  woof  in  the  vast  arras 
web  of  universal  history"  (Hegel,  ''Philosophy  of 
History,"  Introduction).  The  idea  of  the  State  hence 
takes  shape  slowly,  being  hindered  or  retarded  by  circum- 
stances, such  as  nationality,  intellectual  development,  and 
above  all,  religion. 

And  thus  we  find  that  man  is  by  nature  a  social  and 
political  being;  that  some  form  of  social  fellowship  and 
political  co-operation  is  implicit  in  his  very  nature ;  that 
the  State  itself  becomes  explicit  in  and  through  a  natural 
process  of  development ;  that  in  the  earlier  stages  this 
process  may  be  more  or  less  instinctive  and  unconscious, 
but  in  all  the  higher  stages  it  is  furthered  and  quickened 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STATE 


53 


by  man's  conscious  choice  and  rational  co-operation ;  and 
that  thus  the  State  is  here  in  fulfilment  of  the  purpose  of 
"  God  and  has  its  justification  in  the  nature  of  man  himself. 
In  this  conception  of  the  origin  of  the  State,  we  find  that 
all  of  the  causes  that  were  named  in  the  other  theories  have 
been  more  or  less  at  work.  There  is  a  soul  of  truth  in 
each  of  these  theories,  but  they  all  err  by  defect  in  that 
they  take  a  part  for  the  whole  and  consider  results  that 
are  much  larger  than  their  causes. 

This  view,  however,  gives  us  the  two  things  that  we 
need  for  all  clear  and  rational  thought.  It  gives  us  at 
once  the  origin  of  the  State  and  the  justification  for  its 
existence.  It  grounds  the  State  in  the  very  nature  of 
man  and  the  purpose  of  God,  and  it  contains  a  justifica- 
tion for  its  existence  in  the  very  nature  of  life  itself. 


Ill 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 

THE  determination  of  the  true  functions  of  the  State 
is  one  of  the  urgent  and  practical  problems  of  our 
time.  There  could  be  no  greater  misfortune  to  society, 
than  for  men  to  proceed  blindly,  without  any  clear  vision 
of  the  ends  they  are  to  seek  and  the  methods  they  are  to 
employ.  This  inquiry  is  all  the  more  important  in  view 
of  the  growing  complexity  of  society  and  the  widening 
range  of  State  activity.  In  the  world  as  we  find  it, 
there  is  an  ever-increasing  diversity  and  differentiation, 
and  we  see  society  breaking  up  into  distinct  trades  and 
classes,  with  the  most  minute  division  of  labor  and  the 
most  rigid  delimitation  of  trades.  Everything  indicates 
that  this  process  is  to  continue  even  more  widely.  But 
there  is  also  an  ever-increasing  inter-relation  and  interde- 
pendence, and  we  are  discovering  that  every  man  needs 
his  neighbor  and  is  dependent  upon  his  co-operation. 

This  imposes  new  responsibilities  upon  political  ma- 
chinery and  makes  new  demands  upon  modern  statesmen. 
The  State  is  slowly  but  surely  extending  its  activity  and 
multiplying  its  functions ;  and  this  process  is  likely  to 
continue  and  even  widen.  There  are  those  who  view  this 
tendency  with  alarm  and  declare  that  man  is  forging  for 
himself  the  chains  of  a  new  slavery.  There  are  others 
who  regard  it  with  unmixed  satisfaction,  and  in  fact,  de- 
mand a  much  wider  extension  of  State  action.  Between 
these  two  extremes  stands  a  third  class  uncertain  which 
course  to  take,  whether  to  array  itself  with  the  former  or 
with  the  latter. 
54 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


55 


The  right  conception  of  the  State  will  give  us  the  key 
to  the  true  interpretation  of  the  functions  of  the  State. 
There  are  two  methods  that  may  be  followed  in  this 
study.  One  may  follow  the  historical  and  empirical 
method,  and  may  consider  the  functions  of  the  various 
States  of  the  world ;  he  may  then  compare  these,  noting 
those  more  or  less  recognized  in  all  and  rejecting  those 
tha/:  seem  sporadic  and  isolated.  By  this  process  he  may 
obtain  results  suggestive  and  possibly  helpful.  But  this 
process  is  questionable  at  best;  for  no  two  peoples  have 
the  same  characteristics  and  conditions,  and  the  method 
most  effective  in  one  set  may  be  wholly  unworkable  in 
different  conditions.  And  this  method  fails  to  meet  all 
the  demands  of  life,  for  it  takes  no  account  of  the  ideal 
element  in  society.  To  know  what  is  good  for  the  State 
we  must  have  some  ideal  of  the  State  and  some  concep- 
tion of  its  mission.  According  to  the  teachings  of  so- 
ciology, "  That  is  good  for  me,  or  for  the  world  around 
me,  which  promotes  the  ongoing  of  the  social  process. 
That  is  bad  for  me,  or  for  the  world  around  me,  which 
retards  the  ongoing  of  the  social  process "  (Small, 
"  General  Sociology,"  p.  676).  This  means  that  we  must 
have  some  conception  of  the  meaning  and  end  of  the 
social  process  in  order  to  appraise  any  method  or  func- 
tion of  the  State.  The  other  possible  method  for  us  is  to 
adopt  or  to  devise  some  ideal  of  the  State  and  its  func- 
tions, and  then  seek  to  bring  the  actual  State  up  to  the 
ideal  standard.  This  method  has  its  advantages,  but  at 
best  it  is  questionable  and  may  be  unreal.  States  are 
growths  and  not  manufactures.  In  view  of  this,  it  is 
possible  that  the  better  method  of  study  is  one  that  shall 
combine  the  two  methods.  We  seek  to  know  what  are  the 
functions  now  performed  by  the  most  advanced  States ; 
we  seek  to  discover  how  far  the  State  can  promote 
certain  great  ends ;  and  then  with  some  ideal  of  the  true 


56 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


end  of  the  State  we  inquire  what  are  the  functions  that  it 
must  perform  in  order  to  fulfil  its  highest  aims. 

In  the  development  of  political  thought  many  attempts 
have  been  made  to  determine  the  essential  functions  of 
the  State.  It  is  needless  to  multiply  quotations,  but  a 
few  of  the  more  significant  statements  may  be  given. 
"  The  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God,"  says  the 
Apostle  Paul.  The  ruler  is  the  deacon  of  God  unto  men 
for  good;  rulers  are  set  for  the  punishment  of  evil- 
doers and  the  praise  of  them  that  do  well  (Rom.  13  : 
1-4).  In  old  Rome  a  simple  motto  glittered  upon  the  walls 
that  in  a  way  summed  up  all  the  legislation  of  that 
people :  "  Salus  populi  suprema  lex,"  "  the  safety  of  the 
people  is  the  supreme  law."  Aristotle,  the  father  of  po- 
litical science,  declares  that  a  State  "  exists  for  the  sake  of 
life ;  and  not  for  the  sake  of  life  only,  but  for  the  sake  of 
good  life.  .  .  Whence  it  may  be  inferred  that  virtue  must 
be  the  serious  care  of  the  State  which  truly  deserves  the 
name"  ("  Politics,"  Bk.  Ill,  sec.  9).  In  the  preamble  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  we  have  the  great 
words,  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order 
to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,  establish  Justice,  insure 
domestic  Tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  Defense, 
promote  the  general  Welfare,  and  secure  the  Blessings  of 
Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  Posterity,  do  ordain  and 
establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United  States  of 
America."  In  the  Bills  of  Rights  of  many  of  the  States 
of  the  Union  this  same  purpose  is  affirmed  in  somewhat 
different  language :  "  To  safeguard  and  promote  the 
three  main  pillars  of  the  State,  morality,  religion,  and  edu- 
cation." These  statements  are  definite  enough  so  far  as 
they  go,  but  for  purposes  of  careful  thought  it  is  necessary 
that  they  be  analyzed  and  classified  more  accurately. 

In  the  progress  of  political  thought  many  attempts  have 
been  made  to  arrange  the  functions  of  the  State  under 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


57 


certain  definite  categories.  Thus  we  have  them  divided 
into  Primary  and  Secondary  Functions;  we  have  them 
arranged  in  Essential  and  Non-essential  Functions ;  we 
have  them  grouped  into  Positive  and  Negative  Functions ; 
and  so  on  indefinitely.  These  divisions  are  all  more  or 
less  unsatisfactory,  for  the  reason  that  they  are  arbitrary 
and  introduce  false  distinctions;  any  real  function  of  the 
State  is  primary,  essential,  and  positive.  These  divisions 
are  unsatisfactory  for  the  further  reason  that  they  sub- 
ject the  lower  interests  of  man  to  the  care  of  what  are 
called  the  primary  and  essential  functions,  and  commit  the 
more  immaterial  and  spiritual  interests  to  the  keeping 
of  the  secondary  and  non-essential.  Other  writers  have 
sought  to  classify  these  functions  with  reference  to 
the  varied  interests  of  men  and  the  different  branches  of 
government ;  and  we  have  what  are  called  the  Police 
Functions,  the  Legislative  Functions,  the  Judicial  Func- 
tions, the  Educational  Functions,  and  the  Economic 
Functions.  These  classifications  have  much  in  their  favor, 
and,  for  purposes  of  study,  are  very  useful.  But  they 
"  cut  things  in  two "  and  introduce  divisions  that  are 
unreal  and  possibly  mischievous.  For  these  reasons  this 
classification  is  suggested:  The  Defensive,  the  Con- 
servative, the  Socializing,  and  the  Promotive  Functions. 

I.  Defensive  Functions.  In  all  States  that  deserve  the 
name  the  guaranteeing  of  human  security  has  been  re- 
garded as  fundamental  and  essential.  In  early  times  it  is 
quite  possible  that  this  need  of  protection  was  one  of  the 
chief  factors  in  the  making  of  the  State.  Even  in 
later  times  the  need  finds  clear  expression  in  political 
constitutions.  Thus,  the  preamble  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  among  other  things,  declares  that 
government  exists  to  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquillity  and  provide  for  the  common  defense.  Here 
is  a  clear  recognition  of  the  State's  duty  to  provide  for 


58 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


the  common  welfare.  The  State  is  the  true  unit,  and 
each  member  is  defended  by  it.  The  State  has  not  always 
been  true  to  its  calling  in  this  respect,  for  governments 
have  sometimes  been  little  other  than  organized  oppres- 
sion, and  have  shown  scant  regard  for  either  justice  or 
tranquillity.  And  yet  governments,  even  the  worst,  have 
done  something  for  human  welfare,  and  the  worst 
government  has  been  better  than  no  government  at  all. 
But  this  term,  the  Defensive  Functions,  demands  further 
analysis ;  it  is  not  a  simple  term.  We  find  that  the  State 
-  sustains  a  double  relation  to  its  citizens :  first  to  those 
who  are  without  and  secondly  to  those  within  its  fold. 

Toward  those  without,  the  State  appears  as  the  de- 
fender and  guardian  of  its  members  in  person,  life, 
property,  and  security.  In  its  early  stages  this  is  about 
the  only  function  assumed  by  the  State ;  but  it  is  a  func- 
tion everywhere  recognized  as  fundamental.  In  all 
primitive  societies  the  principle  of  solidarity  is  most 
fully  operative,  and  in  a  real  sense  the  individual  is  lost 
in  the  tribe.  Any  aggression  against  a  member  of  the 
tribe  is  an  aggression  against  the  tribe  itself,  and  it  must 
be  resented  by  the  tribe  in  the  person  of  its  ruler.  This, 
as  we  know,  is  not  by  any  means  the  only  function 
recognized  in  modern  States,  but  it  is  a  function  which 
every  State  worthy  of  the  name  is  ready  to  assert  in 
clearest  terms.  A  citizen  of  this  republic,  e.  g.,  be  he 
missionary  or  trader,  who  has  been  admitted  into  any 
foreign  country  may  always  appeal  to  the  home  govern- 
ment for  protection,  and  the  home  government  is  bound 
to  extend  such  protection. 

But  the  State  also  assumes  the  function  of  protecting 
its  members  from  one  another.  It  exists  that  it  may 
guarantee  to  its  weakest  and  lowliest  member  the  secure 
possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  his  rights  and  privileges. 
These,  that  may  be  called  the  police  functions  of  the  State, 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


59 


are  quite  generally  recognized  in  all  States  that  are  well 
ordered.  Here  we  find  that  the  individual  members  sur- 
render to  the  government  the  duty  of  protection,  and  the 
State  accepts  this  responsibility  and  holds  all  its  resources 
in  pledge  for  its  fulfilment.  All  experience  shows  that 
this  work  of  insuring  protection  against  aggression 
and  securing  redress  for  wrong  done,  cannot  be  left 
wholly  to  individual  action  and  private  initiative.  Where 
wrongs  are  left  to  private  redress  a  system  of  revenge 
and  retaliation  obtains,  and  the  vendetta  never  ends.  In 
addition,  each  person  is  a  member  of  the  State,  and  any 
wrong  done  the  person  is  an  attack  upon  the  State. 
Hence,  the  State  which  assumes  the  protection  of  its  mem- 
bers, must  assert  its  authority  and  must  insure  its  own 
existence  by  dealing  with  the  offender.  Besides  all  this 
the  punishment  which  overtakes  the  wrong-doer  must  not 
be  inflicted  in  a  spirit  of  revenge;  it  must  be  visited  on 
the  malefactor  in  the  name  of  the  people  and  for  common 
security. 

This  work  of  defense  against  the  outer  world  and  the 
maintenance  of  justice  within  its  borders,  are  the  two 
most  elementary  and  irreducible  functions  of  the  State. 
Where  these  two  forms  of  service  are  not  performed  by 
the  government  we  have  a  condition  of  anarchy  and  not  a 
civilized  State. 

But  this  defensive  function  of  the  State  has  a  much 
wider  scope.  The  State  is  the  natural  guardian  of  those 
who  are  unable  to  protect  themselves,  and  this  lays  many 
new  responsibilities  upon  it.  There  are  those  who  ad-^ 
vocate  the  doctrine  of  non-interference  by  the  State,  and 
in  the  name  of  scientific  naturalism  assert  that  the  indi-  » 
vidual  must  be  left  to  fight  his  battles  for  himself.  It  is 
only  in  and  through  this  struggle  for  existence  that  each 
can  prove  his  fitness  for  survival ;  and  to  keep  alive  those 
who  are  unfit  is  to  fly  in  the  face  of  the  whole  cosmic 


6o 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


order.  This  being  so,  the  functions  of  the  State  should 
be  kept  at  the  lowest  minimum,  and  we  must  see  to  it 
that  the  State  does  not  interfere  with  the  stern  but  be- 
neficent processes  of  nature.  That  is  to  say,  the  State 
has  no  duty  whatever  to  defend  the  weak  and  unfit  from 
themselves  and  from  others,  beyond  the  general  police 
functions  of  government.  Such  a  view  as  this,  it  must 
be  said,  is  at  variance  with  the  best  thought  of  the 
world,  and  is  based  upon  an  utter  misreading  of  the 
facts.  Out  in  the  jungle  there  is  indeed  a  struggle  for 
existence,  and  unfailingly  the  unfit  go  down.  But  human 
society  is  higher  than  the  wild  jungle  melee  for  the  simple 
reason  that  human  society  is  subject  to  the  sway  of 
mental  and  moral  principles.  The  authority  of  the  State 
must  be  directed,  therefore,  in  all  spheres  in  which  men 
need  protection. 

The  State  that  fully  recognizes  its  duty  in  the  direc- 
tion of  defense,  will  not  allow  conditions  to  exist  which 
make  it  impossible  for  any  class  of  people  to  realize  the 
innate  possibilities  of  their  being.  Thus,  in  the  early 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  it  was  found  that  the 
condition  of  thousands  of  mill  operatives  and  mine  work- 
ers was  utterly  and  deplorably  bad.  The  Earl  of  Shaftes- 
bury and  his  colleagues  in  England  clearly  saw  that  there 
was  here  a  great  wrong  against  the  life  of  these  people. 
He  plainly  stated  in  his  speeches  and  reports  that  there 
were  thousands  of  persons  in  the  land,  who  were  utterly 
unable  to  defend  themselves  against  these  conditions, 
and  so  they  were  wholly  unable  to  rise  into  a  more  worthy 
life.  These  persons  by  themselves  could  not  change  the 
economic  conditions  that  virtually  enslaved  them  and  de- 
barred them  quite  hopelessly  from  any  inheritance  in 
life.  The  State,  so  the  earl  maintained,  must  intervene 
by  its  authority  and  must  protect  these  helpless  ones. 
Remedial  measures  were  enacted  despite  bitter  opposi- 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE  6l 

tion ;  and  the  authority  of  the  British  Parliament  exerted 
in  proper  legislation,  ameliorated  the  condition  of  millions 
of  English  workers  and  made  it  possible  for  them  to 
maintain  their  standing  in  society  and  become  self- 
respecting  citizens.  The  State  is  the  natural  defender  of 
the  person  against  aggression ;  it  is  charged  with  the 
maintenance  of  justice  between  man  and  man ;  and  it 
must  protect  the  weak  and  helpless  against  any  forces  and 
conditions  that  would  hurt  and  oppress  them. 

II.  Conservative  Functions.  In  order  that  men  may 
live  in  security  and  society  may  fulfil  its  mission,  there 
must  be  some  authority  that  shall  safeguard  the  neces- 
sary conditions.  This  agency  is  the  State,  and  this 
conservation  is  a  necessary  part  of  its  mission. 

That  the  State  is  charged  with  the  conservation  of 
the  physical  conditions  of  the  people  is  quite  generally 
recognized.  Thus  the  government  is  charged  with  the 
protection  of  the  streams  from  pollution  and  their  pres- 
ervation. The  man  whose  home  is  by  the  riverside  cannot 
be  allowed  to  use  that  river  as  he  pleases,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  his  conduct  must  not  be  allowed  to  imperil 
the  common  safety.  Nothing  can  be  more  plain  than 
the  duty  of  the  State  to  conserve  the  sanitary  conditions 
of  the  territory  subject  to  its  authority.  The  management 
of  all  matters  pertaining  to  public  sanitation  and  general 
healthfulness  cannot  be  left  to  the  individual  initiative 
of  the  citizens  themselves.  As  an  illustration  we  may 
consider  the  matter  of  public  health. 

There  are  those  who  insist  that  all  such  matters  shall 
be  left  to  the  individual  citizens  to  manage  as  they  will, 
either  by  voluntary  associations  or  by  individual  action. 
But  suppose  for  a  moment  that  this  is  left  to  free  indi- 
vidual and  voluntary  control.  It  may  happen  that  a  num- 
ber of  people  who  do  not  see  the  necessity  for  drains  and 
sewers  refuse  to  co-operate.    Nay,  worse;  they  will  not 


62 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


allow  the  sewer  to  cross  their  property  in  order  to  reach 
the  river,  and  they  refuse  to  abate  the  nuisance  that  is 
causing  their  neighbors  discomfort.  In  this  case  it  is 
evident  that  unless  some  conservative  and  coercive  power 
can  be  employed,  human  security  is  at  an  end  and  human 
society  is  practically  impossible.  It  is  argued  by  the 
friends  of  political  non-intervention,  that  persons  so  act- 
ing must  be  left  severely  alone  to  reap  the  consequences 
of  their  ignorance  and  stubbornness.  That  may  be  the 
most  effective  way,  so  far  as  they  are  concerned,  but  it 
may  prove  entirely  too  expensive  for  the  other  members 
of  society. 

Again,  clear  thought  recognizes  that  the  climatic  con- 
ditions of  a  country  must  be  preserved,  so  far  as  they 
are  under  human  control.  The  watercourses  must  be 
kept  free  from  pollution ;  the  arable  land  must  not  be 
unduly  injured,  greed  and  short-sightedness  must  be  op- 
posed ;  in  short,  the  general  conditions  of  life  must  be 
safeguarded.  No  generation  is  an  end  in  itself.  Each 
is  the  heir  of  the  past  and  the  parent  of  the  future. 
Prudence  would  seem  to  dictate  that  the  men  of  every 
generation  should  give  careful  attention  to  those  means 
and  measures  that  are  likely  to  improve  the  natural 
conditions  of  life  and  make  it  easier  for  the  generations 
that  are  to  come.  The  person  is  for  a  single  generation, 
but  "  the  State  is  for  all  generations.  .  .  The  State  being 
the  representative  of  social  permanence,  it  ought  to  see 
that  the  general  conditions  of  existence  do  not  deteriorate 
among  its  people ;  this  is  the  minimum  which  can  be 
asked  of  it;  what  would  be  better  still  would  be  that  it 
should  improve  them"  (Beaulieu,  "The  Modern  State," 
p.  202).  The  earth  has  been  given  to  the  children  of 
men,  and  no  generation  can  claim  the  exclusive  title  to  it. 

But  the  physical  conditions  of  a  people  are  not  the  only 
ones  that  influence  them.    The  welfare  and  happiness  of 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


63 


men  depend  most  intimately  upon  the  economic  and 
industrial  conditions  that  prevail,  and  here  the  State 
has  a  clear  duty.  In  every  community  there  is  a  large 
class  who  possess  no  real  inheritance  in  society,  and  are 
sadly  handicapped  in  the  race  of  life.  It  is  not  necessary 
here  to  consider  whether  this  condition  has  come  about 
wholly  through  the  fault  or  the  misfortune  of  the  parties 
in  question.  In  either  case  it  would  seem  that  the  State 
has  a  clear  duty.  For  the  State  must  see  to  it  that  no 
section  or  class  shall  be  allowed  to  deteriorate,  either 
physically  or  economically.  In  case  higher  reasons  do 
not  prevail,  there  are  lower  reasons  that  should  convince. 
We  are  all  bound  together  in  a  solidarity  of  interests 
and  responsibilities,  and  whatever  endangers  one  en- 
dangers all.  If  the  deterioration  of  the  people  has  come 
about  through  excessive  toil,  low  wages,  and  defective 
industrial  conditions,  the  State  must  do  what  it  can  to 
remedy  these  defects.  If  the  handicap  that  is  upon  a 
large  section  of  the  community  has  come  about  through 
control  of  natural  resources  by  a  few,  the  monopolization 
of  the  avenues  of  industry  and  the  crowding  of  the 
weaker  to  the  wall,  the  State  must  exert  its  authority  to 
give  all  a  fair  opportunity. 

This  means  that  the  State  which  will  conserve  human 
conditions  will  see  to  it  that  all  begin  the  race  of  life  on 
a  footing  of  equality.  There  is  a  growing  tendency 
among  political  and  sociological  thinkers  to  question 
whether  the  present  cruelty  and  waste  in  human  society 
through  irresponsible  monopoly  and  uncontrolled  compe- 
tition are  not  fraught  with  evil  consequences.  Professor 
Marshall  maintains  that  "  the  present  extreme  inequal- 
ities of  wealth  tend  in  many  ways  to  prevent  human  facul- 
ties from  being  turned  to  their  best  account."  "  The 
fact  is,"  as  Benjamin  Kidd  points  out,  "  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  population  in  the  prevailing  state  of  so- 


64 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


ciety  take  part  in  the  rivalry  of  life  only  under  conditions 
which  absolutely  preclude  them,  whatever  their  natural 
merit  or  ability,  from  any  real  chance  therein.  They 
come  into  the  world  to  find  the  best  positions  not  only 
already  filled  but  practically  occupied  in  perpetuity " 
(Kidd,  "  Social  Evolution,"  p.  232).  In  view  of  this,  it  is 
evident  that  the  old  Laissez  Faire  doctrine  is  entirely  out- 
grown. The  State  that  would  fulfil  its  higher  mission, 
must  do  what  lies  in  its  power  to  equalize  opportunity 
and  conserve  the  interests  of  the  weaker  as  well  as  those 
of  the  strong. 

In  many  ways  this  conserving  function  of  the  State  is 
recognized  by  all  modern  progressive  governments.  In 
fulfilment  of  this  function  there  are  certain  principles 
of  all  intelligent  legislation.  Thus,  where  natural  par- 
entage is  manifestly  defective  or  inefficient,  the  State 
intervenes  and  assumes  the  guardianship  of  the  children. 
The  State  will  not  allow  obscene  pictures  to  be  sold 
whose  tendency  is  clearly  to  degrade.  In  the  rightful 
exercise  of  its  authority  the  State  may  remove  the  sources 
of  physical  contagion,  and  may  employ  its  machinery  to 
secure  safe  and  sanitary  conditions.  It  may  forbid  the 
entrance  into  the  country  of  diseased  cattle,  and  may 
even  encourage  intelligent  and  profitable  cattle-raising.  It 
may  prohibit  the  prize-fight  and  the  lottery ;  it  may  also 
prohibit  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors. 
In  short,  it  may  do  whatever  lies  within  its  power  to 
secure  safe  and  healthful  conditions  for  all  the  people 
within  its  jurisdiction.  According  to  a  significant  decision 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  "  No  legislation  can 
barter  away  the  public  health  or  the  public  morals.  The 
people  themselves  cannot  do  it,  much  less  their  servants. 
Governments  are  organized  with  a  view  to  their  preserva- 
tion, and  cannot  divest  themselves  of  the  power  to  provide 
for  them." 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


65 


A  State,  in  the  judgment  of  Aristotle,  is  the  collective 
body  of  the  citizens  sufficient  in  themselves  for  all  pur- 
poses of  life  ("Politics,"  Bk.  Ill,  chap.  i).  The  true 
end  of  the  State,  as  defined  by  Bluntschli,  is  "  the  develop- 
ment of  national  capacities,  the  perfecting  of  the  national 
life,  and  finally  its  completion."  Therefore,  it  cannot 
control  private  life  in  what  is  essentially  individual,  but 
only  so  far  as  that  life  is  affected  by  the  common  nature 
of  all  men  and  by  the  common  necessities  ("  The  Theory 
of  the  State,"  p.  325). 

There  are  those  who  make  light  of  State  action,  and 
declare  that  everything  must  be  left  to  the  control  of 
private  parties  and  voluntary  associations.  No  doubt 
there  are  many  things  which  should  be  left  to  individual 
initiative ;  there  is  no  mystic  chemistry  in  the  State  by 
which  man's  folly  can  be  transmuted  into  social  wisdom. 
"  The  State,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  invents  nothing,  and 
never  has  invented  anything  "  (Beaulieu,  "The  Modern 
State,"  p.  83).  At  best,  it  is  the  social  machinery  through 
which  men  act  in  bringing  about  certain  social  results, 
and  by  the  nature  of  the  case  it  suffers  from  the  defects 
of  all  machines.  But  while  all  this  is  true,  while  many 
things  may  be  left  to  private  initiative,  it  is  evident  that 
there  are  many  important  interests  which  would  be  neg- 
lected if  left  in  private  hands.  The  fact  is,  humanity 
has  progressed  thus  far  by  not  letting  things  take  their 
own  course,  but  by  directing  them  by  intelligent  and  moral 
ends.  "  The  history  of  progress  is  the  record  of  the 
gradual  diminution  of  waste.  The  lower  the  stage  the 
greater  is  the  waste  involved  in  the  attainment  of  any 
end.  .  .  When  we  come  to  human  society,  the  State  is  the 
chief  instrument  by  which  waste  is  prevented.  The  mere 
struggle  for  existence  between  individuals  means  un- 
■y  checked  waste.  The  State  by  its  action,  can  in  many 
cases,  deliberately  and  consciously,  diminish  this  fearful 

E 


66 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


loss.  By  freeing  the  individual  from  the  necessity  of  a 
perpetual  struggle  for  the  mere  conditions  of  life,  it  can 
set  free  individuality  and  so  make  culture  possible.  An 
ideal  State  would  be  one  in  which  there  was  no  waste  at 
all  of  the  lives,  the  intellects,  and  the  souls  of  individual 
men  and  women"  (Ritchie,  "Principles  of  State  Inter- 
ference," p.  50). 

III.  Socializing  Functions.  There  is  another  large 
class  of  functions,  performed  alike  by  the  lowest  as 
well  as  by  the  highest  States,  that  can  best  be  described 
by  the  term  Socializing  Functions.  By  socializing  func- 
tions of  the  State  we  mean  the  harmonization  of  all  inter- 
ests therein  and  their  conscious  co-operation  in  behalf 
of  social  progress  (Small,  "General  Sociology,"  chap, 
xxiv).  In  a  sense  this  class  of  functions  includes  all 
those  that  have  been  named  or  that  may  be  named ;  but 
in  a  most  true  sense  also  this  class  of  functions  involves 
aspects  of  social  activity  that  are  not  considered  in  any 
of  the  other  categories.  Whatever  promotes  social  bet- 
terment comes  within  its  province. 

In  society  as  we  find  it  there  are  all  kinds  of  individuals 
and  classes,  and  these,  because  of  their  divergent  interests, 
are  more  or  less  in  a  chronic  state  of  conflict.  How  can 
this  struggle  between  individuals  and  interests  be  limited 
to  the  smallest  degree?  How  can  they  be  so  correlated 
and  harmonized  that  social  peace  may  take  the  place  of 
social  conflict?  And  how  can  all  these  be  so  guided  and 
directed  that  they  all  shall  work  together  for  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  social  process?  These  questions  are  among 
the  most  fundamental  and  practical  that  man  can  consider, 
and  upon  their  right  solution  depend  many  issues  in  social 
progress.  There  are  two  directions  in  which  this  socializ- 
ing function  of  the  State  may  be  noted,  the  socializing  of 
individuals  and  the  harmonizing  of  interests.  Under  the 
first  division  may  be  classed  all  those  efforts  of  the  State 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


67 


to  define  the  relations  of  man  with  man  and  to  train  them 
in  the  divine  art  of  living  together. 

The  primary  interest  of  every  man,  as  of  every  animal, 
is  the  sheer  effort  to  keep  alive.  One  of  the  inevitable 
forms  of  this  interest  is  what  may  be  called  the  food 
interest,  and  this  is  as  true  of  cave  men  as  of  modern 
philosophers.  But  there  are  other  interests  that  assert 
themselves,  and  so  we  have  a  list  that  runs  along  the 
whole  scale  of  human  life.  Life,  as  we  know  it,  may 
not  be  a  free  fight,  with  every  living  being  fighting  with 
every  other,  but  life  in  one  aspect  at  least  may  be  de- 
scribed as  a  struggle  for  existence,  with  the  survival  of 
the  fittest.  The  amount  of  food  that  is  available  at  any 
one  time  for  beast  or  man  is  wofully  limited,  and  hence 
there  is  a  constant  competition  for  the  choicer  portions. 
There  are  not  enough  warm  places  in  the  sun  for  all  to 
enjoy  themselves,  and  so  there  is  a  constant  struggle  for 
place.  In  the  lower  ranges  of  life  these  forces  act  in  a 
more  or  less  instinctive  and  unconscious  way.  But  when 
we  enter  the  world  of  man  we  find  that  this  socializing 
process  is  more  or  less  under  the  direction  of  conscious 
and  moral  powers.  In  a  colony  of  ants  the  various 
members  arrange  themselves  in  an  instinctive  way  with 
little  or  no  initiative  of  their  own.  In  a  hive  of  bees  the 
same  process  is  seen,  and  while  the  order  is  most  wonder- 
ful, it  is  yet  almost  wholly  instinctive,  if  not  automatic. 
But  when  we  come  to  a  human  group  or  tribe  we  find 
that  a  new  factor  is  at  work,  and  this  acts  in  a  more  or 
less  conscious  and  rational  way  in  establishing  some 
modus  vivendi.  This  factor  or  agency  is  what  may  be 
called  the  State. 

The  State  which  we  have  defined  as  the  organ  of  man's 
political  consciousness  is  thus  one  of  the  agencies  whereby 
the  socialization  of  man's  life  is  promoted.  Thus  the 
State  serves  a  useful  purpose  in  socializing  and  civilizing 


68 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


the  individuals ;  that  is,  it  develops  within  them  a  con- 
sciousness of  kind,  and  promotes  the  social  process.  The 
State,  however  sadly  it  may  have  failed  in  its  mission, 
has  yet  done  much  to  repress  and  discourage  the  indi- 
vidualistic and  unsocial  impulses  of  men  and  to  encourage 
and  foster  the  social  and  sociable  impulses.  Its  service 
in  these  directions  cannot  well  be  overestimated. 

Under  the  second  division  of  this  subject  are  compre-. 
hended  all  those  efforts  of  the  State  to  adjust  the  different 
classes  of  conflicting  interests,  and  thus  to  secure  the  wel- 
fare of  all.  "  In  the  beginning,"  says  Professor  Small, 
"  were  interests."  "  An  interest  is  a  plain  demand  for 
something  regardless  of  everything  else."  "  An  interest 
is  unequivocal,  intolerant,  exclusive"  (Small,  "General 
Sociology,"  pp.  196,  201).  We  have  seen  that  the  various 
individuals  in  society  have  various  interests  of  their  own, 
and  each  tends  to  seek  that  interest  which  to  him  seems 
most  important  at  the  time.  But  as  we  look  at  human 
society,  we  find  that  these  individuals  arrange  themselves 
in  groups  and  classes  and  parties,  according  to  the  inter- 
ests that  are  represented,  and  whereas  before  we  had  a 
conflict  of  individuals,  now  we  have  a  conflict  of  groups 
and  parties.  This  warrants  the  conclusion  that  "  the 
social  process  is  a  continual  formation  of  groups  around 
interests,  and  a  continual  exertion  of  reciprocal  influ- 
ence by  means  of  group  action"  (Small,  ibid.,  p.  209). 
It  is  needless  to  describe  in  detail  the  groups  and  parties 
and  classes  that  form  themselves  around  certain  interests 
and  become  their  representatives  and  defenders.  These 
interests,  as  described  by  Ratzenhofer  and  Small,  range 
through  the  whole  gamut  of  human  life  from  the  universal 
interest  of  sustenance,  through  the  kinship  interest,  the 
national  interest,  the  creedal  interests,  the  pecuniary 
interests,  the  class  interests ;  and  these  last  again 
divide  and  subdivide  into  many  minor  interests  of 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


6y 


manufacture,  trade,  capital,  culminating  in  the  rank  in- 
terests and  corporate  interests  (Small,  "General  Soci- 
ology," p.  252).  Professor  Ross  groups  these  interests 
somewhat  differently  into  the  economic,  the  political,  the 
religious,  and  the  intellectual  interests,  but  he  declares 
that  these  are  the  interests  which  constitute  in  effect 
the  chief  history-making  forces  (Ross,  "  Foundations  of 
Sociology,"  p.  170).  We  find  as  the  culmination  of 
this  process  that  is  going  on  in  society  that  "  The  various 
institutions,  political,  ecclesiastical,  professional,  indus- 
trial, etc.,  including  the  government,  are  devices,  means, 
gradually  brought  into  existence  to  serve  interests  that 
develop  within  the  State"  (Small,  ibid.,  p.  233). 

In  order  that  men  may  live  together  at  all,  and  that 
society  may  become  possible,  these  conflicting  and  clash- 
ing interests  must  be  correlated  and  harmonized.  That 
this  may  be  done  there  must  be  some  agency  or  institu- 
tion comprehensive  enough  to  represent  all  these  diverse 
interests.  This  agency,  it  is  evident,  must  be  something 
more  than  the  agency  of  some  one  interest ;  it  must  be 
in  the  most  real  sense  the  representative  of  all.  This 
agency  of  the  common  interest,  this  representative  of  the 
common  life,  is  nothing  less  than  the  State,  and  the  special 
function  of  the  State  in  representing  and  harmonizing  all 
interests  we  may  call  the  socializing  function.  Thus 
"  The  State  is  a  union  of  disunions,  a  conciliation  of  con- 
flicts, a  harmony  of  discords.  The  State  is  an  arrange- 
ment of  combinations  by  which  mutually  repellent  forces 
are  brought  into  some  measure  of  concurrent  action." 
"  The  State  is  a  working  compromise  between  the  un- 
socializing  and  the  socializing  possibilities  of  individual 
selfishness  "  (Small,  ibid.,  pp.  252,  332).  This  socializing 
function  of  the  State  is  second  to  none  in  importance,  and 
deserves  more  consideration  than  it  has  hitherto  received. 

In  its  exercise  the  State  can  do  much  to  mitigate  the 


7o 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


severity  of  the  social  struggle  and  to  conserve  the  inter- 
ests of  the  weaker.  In  every  society  there  are  persons 
who  are  unsocial  and  selfish,  who  seek  their  own  interests 
without  any  reference  to  the  interests  of  others.  This 
selfish  spirit  may  manifest  itself  in  many  ways ;  it  may 
appear  in  the  outlaw  who  commits  aggression  by  physical 
force;  it  may  appear  in  the  monopolist  who  corners  the 
necessaries  of  life.  It  may  incarnate  itself  in  some  cor- 
poration or  institution  or  system,  ecclesiastical  or 
economic,  that  regards  its  own  interests  as  chief  and 
tries  to  bend  all  others  thereto.  Under  such  circum- 
stances the  State  has  a  very  clear  duty  and  an  important 
function.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  protect  its  mem- 
bers from  aggression,  be  that  aggression  individual  or 
corporate;  it  is  its  duty  to  make  it  possible  for  the  just 
man  to  compete  on  fair  terms  with  all  other  men.  Thus 
far  in  the  history  of  human  thought  this  socializing  func- 
tion of  the  State  has  had  a  somewhat  restricted  applica- 
tion, but  the  time  has  come  when  it  must  be  exercised  in 
many  new  directions.  It  has  been  assumed  that  the  State 
will  protect  its  members  from  physical  force ;  that  it  will 
protect  its  members  in  reputation  and  property ;  and,  in  a 
general  way,  it  may  be  said  that  the  State  has  fulfilled 
this  part  of  its  office.  It  is,  however,  more  and  more  be- 
1  coming  evident  that  the  State  must  protect  its  members 
from  aggression  of  a  more  subtle  and  cruel  character; 
that  it  must  exert  a  more  socializing  and  civilizing  influ- 
ence in  society. 

-  There  are  two  impulses,  never  stronger  than  to-day, 
that  are  pretty  constant  in  human  nature — the  love 
of  money  and  the  love  of  power.  These  impulses  lead 
to  combinations  and  corporations,  the  representatives  of 
certain  great  and  controlling  financial  interests.  The 
man  who  would  live  and  trade  must  either  come  into  these 
combinations  or  he  must  accept  the  hard  option  of  com- 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


71 


peting  with  the  almost  certain  prospect  of  ultimate  ex- 
tinction. In  view  of  this,  it  is  evident  that  the  State 
has  a  most  important  function  to  fulfil  in  socializing  the 
competing  interests  of  society  and  in  elevating  the  plane 
of  social  action.  It  can  establish  a  legal  plane  of  compe- 
tition and  can  provide  standing-ground  for  every  man. 
It  can  define  the  conditions  under  which  manufacture  and 
trade  must  be  conducted,  and  thus  make  it  possible  for 
the  moral  man  to  compete  on  fair  terms  with  all  others. 
It  can  socialize  the  whole  life  of  man  by  restraining  ag- 
gression and  make  it  possible  for  the  just  and  moral  man 
to  maintain  his  footing.  It  lies  within  its  proper  function 
to  determine  the  character  of  such  competitive  action  as 
shall  take  place,  to  define  the  terms  on  which  all  economic 
action  shall  be  conducted,  and  to  make  it  possible  for  the 
most  conscientious  and  social  members  of  society  to  com- 
pete on  the  human  plane  and  not  on  the  jungle  plane. 
"  The  matching  of  strength  against  weakness  is  contrary 
to  fighting  codes ;  equal  armor  and  equal  weapons  were 
the  rule  of  knighthood"  (Professor  J.  B.  Clarke,  "The 
Philosophy  of  Wealth,"  p.  165).  "It  is  utterly  illogical 
to  say  that  aggrandizement  by  physical  force  should  be 
forbidden,  while  aggrandizement  by  mental  or  legal  fic- 
tion should  be  permitted.  It  is  absurd  to  claim  that  in- 
justice committed  by  muscle  should  be  regulated,  while 
that  committed  by  brain  should  be  unrestricted  "  (Ward, 
"  Psychic  Factors  of  Civilization,"  p.  322). 

This  socializing  function  of  the  State  is  second  to 
none  in  importance,  and  it  promises  to  play  a  much  larger 
part  in  the  future  than  in  the  past.  It  is  probable  that  this 
function  will  be  manifested  in  a  greater  extension  of 
State  action  in  the  realms  of  man's  social  and  industrial 
interests.  Thus  far  these  realms  have  been  very  jealous 
of  their  own  prerogatives,  and  have  resented  all  State 
action  as  an  interference  with  their  rights.    But  it  is 


72 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


becoming  increasingly  evident  that  the  State  cannot 
allow  its  authority  to  be  denied  in  this  way ;  nor  can  it 
tolerate  any  influences  and  interests  that  are  clearly  un- 
social and  destructive  in  their  tendencies  and  actions. 
The  State  must  determine  the  plane  on  which  men  shall 
live  and  trade  and  compete;  it  must  persuade  or  compel 
the  different  interests  of  society  to  subordinate  their  spe- 
cial interest  to  the  one  common  interest;  in  a  word,  it 
must  do  all  in  its  power  to  harmonize  and  socialize  the 
divergent  elements  of  society  and  to  train  them  all  in  the 
divine  art  of  living  together. 

IV.  Promotive  Functions.  The  State  has  an  impor- 
tant function  to  fulfil  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  man. 
According  to  Aristotle  a  State  "  exists  for  the  sake 
of  a  good  life,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  life  only.  .  . 
Whence  it  may  be  inferred  that  virtue  must  be  the  serious 
care  of  a  State  which  truly  deserves  the  name  "  ("  Poli- 
tics," Bk.  Ill,  Sec.  9).  According  to  Locke  "  The  end  of 
government  is  the  good  of  mankind."  According  to  the 
Apostle  Paul  civil  authority  is  appointed  of  God  for  the 
good  of  man  (Rom.  13  :  1-6).  It  is  not  necessary  to 
consider  in  detail  the  many  things  that  the  State  may  do 
in  behalf  of  human  progress,  but  a  few  lines  of  action 
may  be  suggested. 

The  State  can  do  much  to  promote  social  well-being 
by  removing  the  obstacles  that  hinder  and  disqualify  men 
for  free  development.  It  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  State 
to  make  possible  a  free,  worthy,  human,  and  moral  life 
for  all  its  members.  The  State  is  called  to  consider 
not  only  the  best  interests  of  the  largest  number,  but  the 
highest  interests  of  the  whole  number.  It  is  clearly  its 
duty  to  create  conditions  which  shall  give  every  person  a 
fair  fighting  chance  for  life  and  happiness. 

Again,  the  State  can  do  much  in  promoting  human 
well-being  by  providing  that  every  person  shall  have  a 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


73 


fair  standing  in  society.  Every  child  born  into  the  world 
has  a  claim  to  the  common  inheritance  of  earth,  air,  and 
water;  it  has  birth-right  to  a  fair  chance  for  life,  property, 
and  happiness,  and  any  society  that  ignores  these  claims 
and  rights  is  essentially  unjust.  There  is  one  principle 
that  we  need  to  keep  in  mind  in  all  our  discussion  of  this 
question,  that  no  man  in  any  generation  is  to  do  anything 
that  shall  narrow  the  range  of  opportunity  or  mortgage 
the  inheritance  of  succeeding  generations.  "  The  freedom 
to  do  as  they  like  on  the  part  of  one  set  of  men  may  in- 
volve the  ultimate  disqualification  of  many  others,  or  of  a 
succeeding  generation,  for  the  exercise  of  rights  "  (Green, 
"  Principles  of  Political  Obligation,"  Sec.  210):  The 
men  of  one  generation  may  justly  complain  if  by  the 
action  of  a  preceding  generation  they  are  obliged  to  begin 
the  race  of  life  seriously  handicapped.  The  obverse  of 
this  is  true,  and  the  men  of  the  present  generation  should 
hence  take  thought  for  the  generations  that  are  to  come, 
and  should  seek  to  create  conditions  which  shall  make  for 
human  equality  and  social  peace.  The  State  and  not  the 
individual  is  the  representative  of  this  permanent  life  of 
a  people,  and  hence  it  follows  that  the  State  must  hold 
the  balance  even  between  the  generations  and  give  each  its 
due. 

Once  more :  there  are  many  things  that  the  State  can 
do  in  a  more  direct  and  positive  way  in  promoting  human 
well-being.  Removing  obstacles  is  not  by  any  means  the 
only  thing.  It  is  becoming  an  accepted  principle  among 
all  progressive  peoples  that  the  State  may  exercise  its 
authority  in  promoting  education,  in  spreading  intelli- 
gence, and  in  fostering  philanthropy.  It  must  be  said, 
however,  that  on  this  question  there  is  a  marked  differ- 
ence of  opinion  among  social  and  political  thinkers.  Thus 
we  have  those  who  take  the  extreme  position,  with  Her- 
bert Spencer,  that  the  State  has  nothing  to  do  with  such 


74 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


matters,  and  whenever  it  meddles  here  it  transcends  its 
sphere.  There  are  others  who  take  the  opposite  extreme 
and  maintain  that  it  is  both  the  right  and  the  duty  of  the 
State  to  provide  for  the  full  education  of  all  its  members, 
in  both  intellectual  and  moral  life.  The  true  course 
seems  to  lie  between  these  extremes,  and  teaches  that  the 
State  has  the  right  and  the  duty  to  maintain  for  its  citizens 
the  conditions  under  which  the  free  exercise  of  their 
faculties  is  possible  (Lilly,  "  First  Principles  in  Politics," 
p.  59).  But  the  State  may  do  much  more  than  this  and 
still  maintain  this  middle  course ;  in  fact,  the  more  ad- 
vanced States  to-day  are  doing  much  more  than  provide 
the  mere  rudiments  of  an  education.  The  welfare  of 
the  people  is  the  chief  concern  of  the  just  government, 
and  that  this  welfare  may  be  promoted  it  is  necessary 
that  the  material  interests  of  the  people  be  considered. 
Not  only  so,  but  the  State  needs  qualified  and  trained  men 
for  all  departments  of  its  life  and  service  in  civil  affairs, 
in  industrial,  and  military  life.  In  order  that  these  ends 
may  be  fully  and  generally  secured  the  State  may  fairly 
and  justly  establish  departments  of  forestry  and  com- 
merce, of  labor  and  education ;  it  may  establish  and  en- 
dow normal  schools  and  State  universities,  and  it  may 
create  bureaus  of  charities  and  corrections,  and  may  print 
and  disseminate  literature  bearing  upon  all  the  questions 
of  national  and  social  welfare. 

There  are  four  principles — social  axioms  they  ought  to 
be  called — that  may  be  of  service :  The  effort  of 
society  should  always  be  greatest  where  the  need  is 
sorest.  The  State  that  is  under  obligation  to  punish 
and  restrain  the  criminal  is  under  equal  obligation 
to  remove  the  causes  which  make  the  criminal.  The 
State  that  confesses  its  obligation  to  care  for  its  dependent 
and  defective  members  should  confess  the  equal  obligation 
to  prevent  the  continuous  creation  of  such  dependent  and 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


75 


defective  classes.  The  method  of  prevention  is  a  great 
deal  cheaper  and  easier  than  the  method  of  reformation, 
and  it  is  also  more  Christian  and  more  hopeful.  A  few 
suggestions  in  application  of  these  principles  may  be 
offered. 

For  one  thing,  the  State  must  encourage  all  those 
investigators  who  are  seeking  to  know  the  causes  of  dis- 
ease and  crime.  We  must  know  the  causes  of  these  dis- 
tressful phenomena  of  society,  the  criminal,  the  tramp, 
the  insane,  the  idiotic ;  we  must  seek  to  remove  the  causes 
of  these  things,  and  we  must  labor  to  secure  a  larger 
proportion  of  sane,  healthy,  well-endowed,  morally  dis- 
posed people  in  the  community.  The  State  must  put  its 
resources  in  pledge  in  behalf  of  its  weakest  and  least 
promising  members  that  they  may  be  lifted  up  into 
strength  and  fitness.  In  this  work  the  wise  State  will 
co-operate  with  all  the  other  agencies  of  man-making, 
such  as  the  family  and  the  church,  that  human  life  may  be 
touched  and  influenced  on  all  sides.  The  unfit  must  not 
be  allowed  to  remain  unfit,  but  must  be  transformed.  But 
more  important  than  this,  society  must  take  adequate 
precautions  against  the  needless  multiplication  of  these 
dependent  and  defective  members.  The  State  must  go 
behind  results  and  must  seek  to  change  causes,  and  this 
work  it  cannot  evade  nor  deny.  That  is,  the  State  must 
now  employ  its  resources  and  exert  its  authority  in  crea- 
ting conditions  that  will  prevent  the  making  and  multiply- 
ing of  the  weak  and  the  defective.  This  is  a  great  under- 
taking, and  it  may  require  long  generations  for  the  most 
advanced  society  to  approximate  the  goal.  But  it  is 
something  to  know  the  direction  in  which  progress  lies, 
,and  to  consider  what  brings  man  nearer  to  the  true 
standard.  The  progress  of  man  and  the  perfection  of 
society  are  the  supreme  concern  of  the  State. 

Growing  out  of  all  this  is  the  function  of  the  State  in 


76 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


promoting  the  moral  welfare  of  its  people.  All  clear 
thought  recognizes  that  the  national  character  is  the 
resultant  and  outcome  of  individual  character ;  for  the 
quality  of  the  elements  determines  the  quality  of  the 
mass.  Now,  since  this  is  true,  even  to  truism,  it  would 
seem  that  the  State  which  has  any  concern  for  its  own 
moral  character  and  social  stability,  must  concern  itself 
very  intimately  with  the  moral  life  of  its  citizens.  At  the 
same  time  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  can  do  little  in  a 
direct  way  to  achieve  these  results;  it  can  decree  moral 
statutes,  but  it  cannot  create  the  moral  will ;  it  can  create 
certain  social  machinery,  but  it  cannot  manufacture  moral 
character.  There  is  no  civil  enactment  and  political  ma- 
chinery that  can  generate  moral  life  and  build  a  righteous 
society  out  of  unrighteous  men.  In  view  of  this  there 
are  many  men  who  maintain  that  the  State  can  do  nothing 
whatever  to  promote  human  virtue  and  morality ;  the 
machinery  of  the  State  is  too  coarse,  they  assert,  for  such 
delicate  work,  and  hence  the  State  would  better  limit  itself 
to  its  true  and  proper  functions.  Herbert  Spencer  was 
never  more  clearly  in  the  right  than  when  he  said  that 
there  is  no  form  of  government  that  can  bring  golden 
conduct  out  of  leaden  instincts. 

But  a  more  careful  consideration  of  all  the  factors  will 
show  that  there  are  many  things  that  the  State  can  do  and 
should  do,  in  behalf  of  the  moral  life  of  its  people.  No 
one  claims  that  it  is  possible  to  make  men  good  by  law ; 
but  every  one  with  any  discernment  knows  that  it  is  easily 
possible  for  the  State  to  deal  with  conditions  that  make 
it  doubly  difficult  for  men  to  be  good  at  all.  The  State 
can  make  it  possible  for  men  to  live  and  labor  on  the 
moral  plane ;  the  State  can  remove  the  artificial  barriers 
which  society  erects  and  can  equalize  opportunity  for 
all;  the  State  can  remove  the  stumbling-blocks  that  are 
placed  in  the  way  of  men  and  abolish  the  agencies  that 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


77 


are  clearly  demoralizing;  the  State  can  apply  the  moral 
law  to  the  civil  organization  of  society  and  can  seek  to 
prepare  every  person  for  full  citizenship. 

Thus  far  the  primary,  defensive,  police  functions  of  the 
State  have  bulked  very  large  in  the  thoughts  of  men, 
and  it  has  done  a  great  work  in  these  directions.  In  the 
more  progressive  modern  States  other  functions  have  been 
recognized  also,  and  much  attention  has  been  given  to 
educational  matters  and  to  economic  questions.  But  it  is 
becoming  more  evident  every  day  that  there  are  whole 
ranges  of  functions  beyond  these,  and  men  are  beginning 
to  consider  what  may  be  called  the  social  and  moral  func- 
tions of  the  State.  Men  are  beginning  to  see  that  the 
functions  of  the  State  are  not  negative  and  defensive  only, 
to  restrain  the  evil-doer  and  to  punish  crime,  but  pro- 
motive and  positive  also,  to  direct  social  progress  and  to 
further  human  well-being.  As  time  goes  by  these  nega- 
tive functions  will  more  and  more  sink  into  the  back- 
ground, and  these  positive  functions  will  more  and  more 
fill  the  foreground.  Herbert  Spencer  maintains  that  the 
State  must  prepare  for  its  own  decease,  and  must  hasten 
the  day  when  it  will  be  unnecessary.  On  the  contrary, 
as  humanity  advances  toward  its  goal  and  society  be- 
comes more  complex,  the  State  will  become  more  and 
more  necessary,  and  will  fulfil  other  functions  that  are 
now  unrecognized.  "  The  State,"  says  Bluntschli,  "  is 
not  an  arrangement  for  the  purpose  of  taming  the  evil 
passions.  It  is  not  a  necessary  evil,  but  a  necessary 
good.  Only  by  the  realization  of  the  State  can  peoples 
and  humanity,  taken  collectively,  manifest  their  real  in- 
ward unity  and  attain  to  free  corporate  existence.  The 
State  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  common  order,  and  the  or- 
ganization for  the  perfection  of  common  life  in  all  public 
matters"  ("The  Theory  of  the  State"  p.  302).  "The 
true  functions  and  aims  of  the  State,"  he  maintains,  "  are 


78 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


the  development  of  the  natural  capacities,  the  perfecting 
of  the  national  life,  and  finally  its  completion  "  (ibid., 
321).  The  time  is  coming  when,  in  the  words  of  Ruskin, 
"  men  may  indeed  begin  to  take  serious  thought  whether 
among  national  manufactures  that  of  souls  of  a  good 
quality  may  not  at  last  turn  out  a  quite  leadingly  lucrative 
one"  ("Unto  This  Last,"  Essay  II). 


IV 


THE   IDEAL   OF   THE  STATE 


HE  conception  of  the  State  is  one  thing,  and  the 


A  ideal  of  the  State  is  quite  another.  The  conception 
has  to  do  with  the  formal  nature  and  essential  character- 
istics of  actual  States.  The  ideal  of  the  State,  on  the 
other  hand,  presents  a  picture  in  the  splendor  of  imagin- 
ary perfection,  as  not  yet  realized,  but  to  be  striven  for 
(Bluntschli,  "  The  Theory  of  the  State,"  p.  15).  Hence, 
in  speaking  of  the  ideal  of  the  State  we  mean  that  ideal 
which  men  cherish,  which  they  regard  as  the  perfect 
goal,  and  which  they  seek  to  have  realized. 

In  these  later  times  men  are  gaining  what  has  been 
called  the  sense  of  humanity,  and  society  is  coming  to 
what  may  be  described  as  social  consciousness.  In  the 
natural  order  we  find  that  the  process  of  development 
below  man  has  gone  forward  in  a  more  or  less  uncon- 
scious and  instinctive  way.  But  with  the  advent  of 
man  a  new  factor  is  introduced,  and  this  changes  the 
whole  result.  Now  the  process  of  human  progress  is  more 
or  less  subject  to  the  conscious  and  rational  action  of  man 
-himself.  The  human  race  as  we  know  it,  is  in  process  of 
becoming ;  the  lowest  members  have  indeed  risen  far  above 
the  animal  stage ;  but  the  highest  members  have  not  yet 
attained  the  final  goal.  Man,  civilized  and  rational — that 
is,  man  moral  and  self-conscious,  stands  midway  in  the 
process,  himself  the  maker  of  his  own  destiny.  Man, 
social  and  political,  as  we  find  him  in  the  more  civilized 
lands  to-day,  is  leaving  the  things  that  are  behind  and  is 
reaching  unto  the  things  that  are  before.    His  greatest 


79 


8o 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


need  is  some  social  ideal  and  human  synthesis  which  shall 
give  meaning  to  his  life  and  direction  to  his  efforts. 

In  the  development  of  political  and  social  thought  many 
attempts  have  been  made  to  define  the  relations  of  man 
with  man,  to  indicate  the  goal  of  the  State,  and  to  formu- 
late some  ideal  of  human  society.  The  views  and  ideals 
of  the  State  that  have  prevailed  may  be  classified  under 
four  heads:  the  Anarchical,  the  Individualistic,  the  Social-j 
istic,  and  the  Fraternal.  These  four  types  have  many 
representatives  in  the  world  to-day,  and  one  or  more  of 
them  lies  at  the  basis  of  every  system  of  political  philos- 
ophy and  every  programme  of  State  action. 

I.  The  Anarchistic.  Type.  This  word  anarchy  in  itself 
is  destitute  of  evil  content.  It  has  come  to  be  the 
synonym  of  disorder  and  riot,  of  lawlessness  and  crime, 
but  this  is  reading  into  the  term  our  own  ideas.  Used 
in  its  primary  and  literal  meaning  it  denotes  merely  a 
state  of  society  without  any  recognized  and  authoritative 
government.  As  defined  by  Professor  Huxley  anarchy 
is  that  form  of  society  in  which  the  rule  of  each  individual 
by  himself  is  the  only  government  recognized  ("Col. 
Essays,"  I,  p.  393).  Persons  of  very  different  mental 
and  moral  worth  hold  the  anarchical  theory  of  society, 
and  these  may  be  divided  roughly  into  two  groups. 

There  are,  first,  the  revolutionary  anarchists  who  avow 
as  their  aim  the  overthrow  and  annihilation  of  all  govern- 
ments and  States.  The  exponents  of  this  creed  bear  dif- 
ferent names,  but  they  agree  in  certain  main  particulars. 
In  Russia  they  were  known  recently  as  Nihilists,  and  now 
as  Red  Hundreds;  in  France  and  Belgium  as  Red  Inter- 
nationals ;  in  England  and  the  United  States  as  Anarchists. 
According  to  Bakunin,  the  father  of  nihilism,  the  first 
mission  of  the  disciples  of  this  new  gospel  is  the  destruc- 
tion of  every  lie  known  to  man.  The  first  is  God.  The 
second  lie  is  right.    Might  invented  the  fiction  of  right 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


8l 


in  order  to  insure  and  strengthen  her  reign :  "  When 
you  have  freed  your  minds  from  the  fear  of  a  God,  and 
from  that  childish  respect  for  the  fiction  of  right,  then  all 
the  remaining  chains  which  bind  you,  and  which  are  called 
science,  civilization,  property,  marriage,  morality,  and 
justice,  will  snap  asunder  like  threads.  Let  your  own 
happiness  be  your  only  law.  But  in  order  to  get  this  law 
recognized  and  to  bring  about  the  proper  relations  which 
should  exist  between  the  majority  and  the  minority  of 
mankind,  you  must  destroy  even-thing  that  exists  in  the 
shape  of  State  or  social  organization.  .  .  Our  first  work 
must  be  the  destruction  and  annihilation  of  everything  as 
it  now  exists.  You  must  accustom  yourselves  to  destroy 
even-thing,  the  good  with  the  bad ;  for  if  but  an  atom  of 
this  old  world  remains  the  new  will  never  be  created  " 
(Speech  of  Michale  Bakunin  at  Geneva,  in  1868). 

The  nihilists,  it  may  be  said,  represent  the  extreme  wing 
of  the  anarchical  party,  and  throw  chief  emphasis  upon 
the  work  of  destruction.  Other  anarchists  are  not  so  pro- 
nounced in  their  appeal  to  force  for  the  destruction  and 
abolition  of  even-thing  that  exists  in  the  form  of  State 
institutions  and  social  control.  But,  none  the  less,  they 
affirm  that  all  social  regulation  is  wrong  in  principle  and 
subversive  of  human  welfare,  and  hence  must  be  ended  as 
speedily  as  possible.  Some  anarchists,  it  ought  to  be  said, 
regard  this  negative  work  of  destruction  as  the  clearing 
of  the  ground  for  what  they  call  the  new  and  better  order 
of  society.  The  State,  as  it  now  exists,  they  all  claim, 
is  an  unnecessary  evil,  and  hence  government  must  be 
completely  destroyed.  They  insist  that  some  form  of 
social  co-operation  will  be  evolved  in  due  time  that  will 
be  better  than  the  present  tyrannical  system ;  but  they  all 
insist  also  that  whatever  government  may  exist  in  the 
good  time  coming  must  be  entirely  voluntary,  and  must 
exert  no  coercion  over  the  individual. 


82 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


There  are,  secondly,  what  may  be  called  the  philosoph- 
ical anarchists,  of  whom  there  are  many  varieties  in  the 
world.  They  all  agree  in  this  particular  at  least,  that 
all  forms  of  government  are  unnecessary  and  evil,  and 
should  be  repudiated.  In  this  category  are  to  be  found 
some  men  and  women  of  great  literary  and  artistic  power, 
such  as  Friedrich  Nietzsche  and  Prince  Kropotkin, 
Maxim  Gorky  and  Count  Tolstoy,  Karl  Marx  and  Leonid 
Andriew.  Some  of  these,  it  may  be  said,  are  confessed 
socialists,  but  they  also  believe  that  the  present  order  of 
society  is  wrong  and  must  be  ended.  They  differ,  how- 
ever, from  the  more  destructive  anarchists  in  the  main  in 
their  contention  that  this  change  must  come  about  by 
more  peaceful  means.  One  of  the  foremost  advocates  of 
this  view  of  society  is  the  Russian  nobleman,  Count 
Leo  Tolstoy.  In  the  name  of  humanity  and  Christianity 
Tolstoy  frames  his  indictment  against  the  State-conception 
of  life,  and  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  reason  he  pro- 
nounces the  State  an  unnecessary  evil.  The  State  may 
cease  to  be,  he  maintains,  and  man  will  lose  nothing  but 
his  chains  and  his  wrongs,  while  humanity  will  gain  im- 
measurably in  security  and  happiness. 

Li  many  respects  this  titled  Russian,  who  for  the  sake 
of  the  truth  in  Jesus  as  he  sees  it,  has  given  up  his  title 
and  is  living  the  life  of  a  peasant,  is  a  standing  rebuke 
to  the  easy-going  and  complacent  lives  of  men  who  call 
themselves  followers  of  the  Son  of  man.  In  Russia — in 
fact,  throughout  all  Europe — this  man  has  millions  of 
disciples,  and  many  of  these  are  preaching  his  doctrines 
with  an  increased  emphasis  and  a  terrible  persistency. 
In  America  also  there  are  many  disciples  of  this  doctrine, 
and  in  every  city  there  are  groups  of  men  who  are  preach- 
ing the  new  gospel  of  freedom  from  the  wrongs  and 
usurpations  of  governments.  But  with  it  all  one  must 
admit  that  the  writings  of  Tolstoy  are  full  of  crude  and 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


83 


perverted  interpretations  of  Scripture,  and  are  based  upon 
a  wrong  reading  of  the  facts  of  life.  Society  cannot  be 
resolved  into  an  anarchy  of  good  individuals,  where  each 
may  be  left  free  to  do  that  which  is  right  in  his  own 
eyes  without  any  supervision  and  direction.  His  objec- 
tions to  the  State  grow  out  of  a  narrow  and  limited 
acquaintance  with  the  various  governments  of  the 
world.  Tsarism,  which  is  irresponsible  monarchy 
raised  to  the  last  power  and  maintaining  itself  by  the 
sanctions  of  religion,  furnishes  the  ground  for  his  indict- 
ment. But  there  are  governments  in  the  world  against 
which  hardly  one  of  his  objections  applies,  and  where 
they  apply  at  all  the  evil  grows  out  of  the  misuse  of 
government  and  is  not  an  essential  element  in  government 
itself.  It  must  be  remembered  that  governments  are 
human  institutions  and  they  must  partake  more  or  less 
of  the  imperfections  which  are  characteristic  of  the 
human  nature  that  controls  them. 

In  a  simple  and  select  condition  of  society  it  might  be 
possible  for  men  to  live  without  government  of  any  kind, 
but  in  a  complex  society  the  weak  and  backward  members 
would  be  left  without  any  adequate  safeguards.  Tolstoy 
would  probably  answer,  as  others  have  done,  that  there 
should  be  no  weak  and  backward  members ;  this  may  be, 
but  they  do  exist,  and  some  account  must  be  taken  of 
them.  One  may  agree  with  Tolstoy  that  much  would 
be  gained  by  giving  morality  and  religion  a  larger  place 
in  human  life,  but  moral  and  religious  appeals  are  slow 
and  uncertain  with  many  men.  "  Society  is  not  an  open 
common  in  which  profane  feet  are  left  to  tread  all  plants 
into  the  mire ;  it  is  at  liberty  to  set  up  suitable  safe- 
guards for  every  good  and  beautiful  thing"  (Bascom, 
"Social  Theory,"  p.  297).  The  good  which  is  won  for 
the  weaker  is  of  greater  moment  than  the  liberty  which  is 
taken  from  the  bad.   Men  may  complain  of  governments, 


84 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


but  the  fact  remains  that  the  best  goods  of  life  are  found 
in  governed  communities. 

According  to  the  doctrines  of  anarchy,  of  the  better 
sort,  the  absence  of  all  government  does  not  mean  the 
absence  of  all  association.  The  more  enlightened  an- 
archists, of  whom  there  are  many,  simply  mean  the  ab- 
sence of  enforced  association  and  compulsory  submission. 
If  an  individual  does  not  wish  to  co-operate  no  restraint 
shall  be  employed;  he  must  be  left  to  reap  the  beneficent 
or  baleful  results  of  his  freely  chosen  course.  But  society 
need  not  suffer  because  of  this,  for  it  is  maintained  that 
the  more  orderly  in  a  community  may  combine  against 
the  disorderly  to  secure  order  and  justice.  For  very 
primitive  and  simple  conditions  this  might  prove  satis- 
factory, but  it  would  fail  utterly  in  an  advanced  and  com- 
plex society.  The  moment  a  majority  began  to  enforce 
their  decrees  against  the  disorderly  minority,  that  mo- 
ment we  have  the  beginnings  of  government.  The  mi- 
nority are  coerced ;  they  are  not  free  to  do  as  they  please, 
and  this  compulsion  is  none  the  less  real  though  it  proceed 
from  a  voluntary  society  rather  than  a  political  govern- 
ment. 

Again,  it  is  evident  that  such  a  voluntary  association 
does  not  provide  adequate  safeguards  for  the  weaker 
and  more  backward  members  of- society.  The  confirmed 
anarchist  will  at  once  answer  that  in  this  ideal  order, 
there  will  be  no  such  weak  and  backward  persons.  But, 
we  must  deal  with  things  as  they  are.  The  weak  and 
backward  brothers  are  here,  and  some  account  must  be 
taken  of  them.  To  leave  them  to  struggle  alone  in  the 
battle  of  life,  to  stand  by  unconcerned  while  they  are 
trodden  under  foot  on  the  plea  that  they  are  unfit  and 
should  not  survive,  is  to  abandon  every  human  instinct 
and  revert  to  the  jungle  plane  of  life.  Nay,  even  in  the 
jungle,  as  one  of  these  foremost  apostles  of  the  anarchical 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


85 


gospel  shows,  we  find  the  beginnings  of  mutual  aid  and 
co-operation  (Kropotkin,  "Mutual  Aid"). 

The  sane  philosophical  anarchists  will  admit  that  some 
voluntary  association  among  individuals  is  necessary  if 
man  is  to  live  in  peace  and  to  make  progress.  Many 
of  them  advocate  such  associations,  but  maintain  that 
they  must  be  wholly  voluntary.  But  any  kind  of  associ- 
ation will  find  that  it  must  either  resort  to  compulsion  in 
some  cases  or  go  wholly  out  of  business.  According  to 
the  anarchists'  first  commandment :  Thou  shalt  not  allow 
any  man  to  interfere  with  the  liberty  of  any  other ;  every 
man  may  mind  his  conduct  or  mend  his  drains  as  he 
pleases.  Thus  the  efforts  of  the  good-intentioned  many 
will  be  negatived  by  the  ignorance  or  selfishness  of  the 
few.  It  is  evident  that  these  associations  must  possess 
some  compulsory  power.  But  the  moment  there  is  as- 
sociation and  compulsion  there  is  the  beginning  of  the 
political  State  (Huxley,  "Administrative  Nihilism"). 
"  As  a  system  of  rational  politics,  anarchism  is  without  a 
logical  basis.  While  it  denies  the  right  or  utility  of 
political  action  in  general,  it  opens  the  way  to  the  intro- 
duction of  a  compulsion  that  is  not  to  be  distinguished 
from  it  in  essence,  and  which  is  in  addition  arbitrary  and 
incapable  of  limitation  or  regulation  according  to  precise 
principles"  (Willoughby,  "The  Nature  of  the  State," 
320). 

II.  The  Individualistic  Type.  In  this  conception  the 
State  is  regarded  as  a  necessary  evil.  This  type  of  State 
differs  from  the  foregoing  in  little  except  in  degree,  but 
this  difference  must  be  noted. 

According  to  those  who  advocate  this  type,  men  as 
we  find  them  are  more  or  less  imperfect  and  evil,  and 
hence  many  of  their  wayward  desires  and  unsocial  im- 
pulses must  be  curbed  and  repressed  by  governmental 
power.    Because  of  the  fraud  and  violence  of  men  a 


86 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


State  which  shall  control  the  unruly  and  ill-disposed  be- 
comes necessary.  Thus  Herbert  Spencer  shows  that 
through  co-operation  into  which  men  have  gradually 
risen,  benefits  have  been  secured  to  them  which  could 
not  be  secured  in  their  primitive  state ;  and  that  as  an  in- 
dispensable means  to  this  co-operation  political  organiza- 
tion has  been  and  is  advantageous  "  (Spencer,  "  Princi- 
ples of  Sociology,"  Sec.  442).  But  as  society  develops, 
as  men  become  more  moral  and  religion  is  diffused,  the 
importance  of  the  State  will  diminish  till  ultimately  it 
will  reach  the  vanishing-point.  This  view,  it  may  be  said, 
shades  off  on  the  one  side  into  anarchism,  and  on  the 
other  into  later  ideas  of  State  action. 

This  view  has  had  many  advocates  in  ancient  and  in 
modern  times,  and  strangely  enough  the  Christian  thinker 
and  the  most  thoroughgoing  agnostic  are  often  found  in 
the  same  school.  In  view  of  the  weakness  and  imperfec- 
tion of  men  some  form  of  State  protection  is  necessary, 
otherwise  the  strong  and  vicious  will  aggress  upon  the 
weak  and  humble.  But  it  is  held  that  the  State's  use  of 
force  while  necessary  in  the  present,  is  itself  an  evil,  and 
is  opposed  to  the  loving  and  merciful  spirit  of  Christianity. 
The  Christian  theologians  who  hold  this  view  are  many 
and  influential.  Thus  Channing  says :  "  In  heaven  noth- 
ing like  what  we  call  government  on  earth  can  exist,  for 
government  here  is  founded  in  human  weakness  and 
guilt.  The  voice  of  command  is  never  heard  among  the 
spirits  of  the  just.  Even  on  earth  the  most  perfect 
government  is  that  of  a  family,  where  parents  employ 
no  tone  but  that  of  affectionate  counsel,  where  filial 
affection  reads  its  duty  in  the  mild  look,  and  finds  its  law 
and  motive  in  its  own  pure  impulse  "  ("  Works,"  p.  361). 
In  other  writings  he  takes  a  somewhat  higher  view  of 
the  functions  of  government ;  but  none  the  less  he  regards 
it  as  a  questionable  good  and  a  necessary  evil.    It  is 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


87 


maintained  by  those  who  hold  this  conception  that  Chris- 
tianity aims  to  make  good  individuals,  and  when  this  end 
is  secured  the  State  becomes  wholly  unnecessary.  It  is  a 
temporary  expedient  for  meeting  a  temporary  need,  and 
it  will  disappear  as  the  kingdom  of  God  comes. 

It  is  rather  significant  that  the  Christian  theologians 
who  maintain  this  view  should  be  supported  in  their  con- 
tention by  the  most  thoroughgoing  agnostics.  Conspicu- 
ous among  these  may  be  named  John  Stuart  Mill  and 
Herbert  Spencer.  The  former  represents  the  transition 
from  the  extreme  doctrines  of  individualism  to  the  more 
social  conception  of  man.  But  none  the  less  he  throws 
great  emphasis  upon  the  individualistic  idea  and  looks 
with  suspicion  upon  the  State.  With  him  liberty  has  a 
negative  sense  and  consists  in  "  being  left  to  one's  self." 
"All  restraint  qua  restraint  is  an  evil"  ("On  Liberty," 
Chap.  V).  The  great  exponent  of  this  view  is  Herbert 
Spencer  who,  from  first  to  last,  has  been  a  defender  of 
the  individualistic  conception  of  man.  In  his  "  Social 
Statics  "  he  says :  "  Have  we  not  shown  that  government 
is  essentially  immoral  ?  .  .  Does  it  not  exist  because  crime 
exists,  and  must  government  not  cease  when  crime  ceases, 
for  very  lack  of  objects  on  which  to  perform  its  func- 
tions? "  And  again  he  says,  "  It  is  a  mistake  to  consider 
that  government  must  last  forever.  .  .  It  is  not  essential, 
but  incidental.  As  amongst  Bushmen  we  find  a  State 
antecedent  to  government,  so  may  there  be  one  in  which 
it  shall  have  become  extinct."  In  his  "  Principles  of 
Sociology  "  he  shows  that  some  temporary  benefits  accrue 
from  State  action,  but  after  all  it  is  an  open  question 
whether  the  disadvantages  do  not  offset  the  benefits.  He 
shows  further  that  while  the  political  organization  facili- 
tates co-operation,  "  yet  the  organization  formed  impedes 
further  growth  .  .  ."  ("  Principles  of  Sociology,"  Vol.  II, 
sec.  447).  In  "  Man  versus  the  State  "  we  have  an  elabo- 


88 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


rate  attempt  to  defend  the  individualistic  conception  of 
man  by  exposing  the  sins  of  legislators  and  the  coming 
slavery. 

The  same  conceptions  are  set  forth  also  by  other 
writers  no  less  eminent.  Thus  Professor  Freeman  says: 
"  As  for  discussions  about  an  ideal  form  of  government, 
they  are  simply  idle.  The  ideal  form  of  government  is 
no  government  at  all.  The  existence  of  government  in 
any  shape  is  a  sign  of  man's  imperfection "  ("  Hist. 
Essays,"  Fourth  Series,  p.  353).  "The  State  ought  to 
render  itself  useless,"  says  M.  Jules  Simon,  "  and  to 
prepare  for  its  own  decease." 

It  may  be  conceded  that  these  criticisms  are  salutary 
and  should  be  taken  to  heart  by  rash  statesmen  who  hope 
to  hale  in  the  millennium  by  governmental  statutes.  It 
may  be  admitted  also  that  governments  have  been  guilty 
of  many  usurpations,  and  have  committed  many  colossal 
blunders.  But  it  is  an  open  question  whether  the  worst 
evils  of  bad  governments  are  not  immeasurably  better 
than  the  inevitable  evils  of  no  government  at  all.  It  may 
be  granted  that  the  State  makes  many  mistakes,  and  is 
often  guilty  of  oppression  and  wrong,  and  that  in  a  way 
its  administration  stands  in  the  way  of  man's  higher 
progress.  But  this  neither  proves  that  the  State  in  itself 
is  an  evil,  nor  that  it  will  disappear  in  the  course  of 
time. 

There  are  two  serious  objections  to  this  individualistic 
view  of  the  State.  First,  some  form  of  government  is  found 
among  every  people  that  has  made  even  the  beginnings  of 
progress.  And  it  is  also  found  that  there  is  a  direct 
relation  between  the  general  condition  of  the  society  and 
the  amount  of  State  action.  "  The  history  of  progress 
is  the  record  of  a  gradual  diminution  of  waste.  .  .  When 
we  come  to  human  society,  the  State  is  the  chief  instru- 
ment by  which  waste  is  prevented.  The  mere  struggle  for 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


89 


existence  between  individuals  means  unchecked  waste. 
The  State,  by  its  action  can,  in  many  cases,  consciously 
and  deliberately  diminish  this  fearful  loss;  in  many  cases 
by  freeing  the  individual  from  the  necessity  of  a  perpetual 
struggle  for  the  mere  conditions  of  life,  it  can  set  free 
individuality  and  so  make  culture  possible.  An  ideal 
State  would  be  one  in  which  there  was  no  waste  at  all 
of  the  lives  and  intellects  and  souls  of  individual  men  and 
women"  (Ritchie,  "  Prin.  of  State  Interference,"  p.  50). 

For  another  reason  this  conception  of  the  State  is  de- 
fective, as  it  rests  upon  a  wrong  reading  of  the  facts  of 
life.  By  nature  man  is  a  social  being,  and  some  form  of 
social  organization  is  natural  to  him.  By  nature  also 
man  is  a  political  being,  and  hence  some  form  of  political 
organization  is  necessary  to  him.  Government  would 
have  been  necessary  had  man  not  sinned ;  the  State  is 
needed  for  the  sake  of  the  good  as  well  as  for  protection 
from  the  bad.  They  wrong  the  State  who  call  it  an  evil, 
though  they  may  qualify  it  with  the  adjective  necessary. 
"  Without  civil  society,"  says  Burke,  "  man  could  not  by 
any  possibility  arrive  at  the  perfection  of  which  his 
nature  is  capable,  nor  even  make  a  remote  and  faint 
approach  to  it"  ("Reflect,  on  Revolution  in  France"). 
The  atomic  and  individualistic  conception  of  mankind  be- 
longs to  a  phase  of  thought  that  is  doomed  to  pass  away. 
Humanity  is  a  great  whole  in  which  the  person  is  but 
a  member,  and  as  in  the  human  body  each  member  is  for 
all  and  all  are  for  each,  so  also  in  human  society.  The 
social  and  political  State  thus  grows  out  of  the  very 
constitution  of  man,  and  is  the  medium  through  which 
the  social  consciousness  finds  expression  and  the  social 
welfare  is  promoted.  "  There  is  no  such  thing  as  prog- 
ress, or  culture  in  the  isolated  individual,  but  only  in 
the  group,  in  society,  in  the  ethnos.  Only  by  taking  and 
giving,  borrowing  and  lending,  can  life  either  improve  or 


90 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


continue"  (Brinton,  "Basis  of  Social  Relations,"  XV). 

III.  The  Socialistic  Type.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  the  remarkable  growth  of  socialism  is  the  most  sig- 
nificant sign  of  the  times.  In  Germany  and  Russia,  in 
Britain  and  America,  the  new  doctrines  are  making  their 
way.  In  these  lands  efforts  have  been  made  by  various 
parties  and  from  many  sides  to  discount  these  doctrines 
and  to  stay  their  onrush,  but  thus  far  all  such  efforts 
have  proved  utterly  vain. 

At  this  stage  of  its  development,  as  might  be  expected, 
men  look  upon  this  new  movement  with  very  different 
feelings.  Some  persons  find  in  socialism  a  new  Messiah 
and  anticipate  through  it  the  regeneration  of  the  world. 
Many  others  stand  in  doubt,  seeing  some  good  in  it,  and 
yet  sadly  torn  by  conflicting  emotions.  They  are  greatly 
moved  by  the  socialistic  indictment  of  modern  civilization 
and  cannot  deny  its  main  counts;  they  feel  the  wrongs 
of  the  world  which  socialism  dissects  with  such  a  merci- 
less hand ;  but  withal  they  cannot  accept  the  socialistic 
programme,  and  fear  that  they  must  wait  for  another 
Messiah.  Not  a  few  both  fear  and.  hate  socialism  and 
see  in  it  nothing  less  than  the  antichrist  of  Scriptures 
and  the  plague  of  human  kind.  Both  from  the  side  of 
the  Church  and  the  State  men  fear  socialism  and  see  in 
it  the  great  menace  of  our  times.  From  the  side  of  the 
church  men  view  its  spread  with  alarm.  Nor  is  this 
wholly  groundless,  for  socialism,  as  preached  by  some  of 
its  apostles,  scorns  the  church  and  discounts  all  religion. 
The  leaders  of  socialism,  many  of  them  at  least,  are 
avowed  enemies  of  the  church,  and  they  do  not  hesitate 
to  speak  their  words  of  scorn.  From  the  side  of  society 
also  men  fear  socialism  and  see  in  it  the  beginning  of  a 
new  slavery;  they  cannot  accept  its  programmes,  and 
they  see  in  it  a  leveling  down  of  the  race  to  the  status  of 
its  lowest  members. 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


91 


Now,  whatever  one  may  think  of  socialism  matters 
little ;  but  it  is  a  force  that  must  be  reckoned  with  in  the 
days  to  come.  The  fact  is,  socialism  is  something  far 
deeper  than  a  mere  surface  discontent ;  it  is  something 
more  than  the  dreaming  of  a  lot  of  wild  visionaries ;  it 
contains  both  an  indictment  and  a  programme,  and  these 
should  be  considered ;  it  may  not  be  necessary  to  accept 
the  programme,  but  it  is  folly  to  ignore  the  indictment. 
Modern  society,  as  the  most  careful  and  conservative 
students  declare,  presents  some  features  which  may  well 
awaken  fear  and  cause  despair.  Some  years  ago  Pro- 
fessor Huxley  declared  that  if  there  is  no  hope  of  a  large 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  human  family,  "  I 
should  hail  the  advent  of  some  kindly  comet  which  should 
sweep  the  whole  affair  away,  as  a  desirable  consum- 
mation." 

What  then  shall  we  do  in  such  a  time  as  this?  It  is 
certain  that  socialism  cannot  be  met  and  answered  by 
misrepresentation  and  denunciation.  It  is  no  less  certain 
that  it  cannot  be  met  by  putting  on  blinders  and  refusing 
to  see  the  things  that  are  wrong  and  unjust  in  mod- 
ern society.  Fearful  churchmen  and  timid  statesmen  may 
try  to  ignore  socialism  or  they  may  combine  to  oppose  it. 
They  may  pass  stringent  laws  against  the  socialistic 
propaganda,  and  may  seek  to  stay  its  force  by  a  subtle 
persecution.  But  in  spite  of  it  all,  nay,  rather,  in  a  certain 
sense  because  of  it  all,  socialistic  doctrines  will  grow 
among  the  people,  and  socialistic  programmes  will  obtain 
a  larger  following. 

But  what  then  is  socialism?  This  term  socialism  is 
one  not  easily  defined,  for  the  reason  that  there  are  all 
shades  and  degrees  of  socialistic  thought,  from  the  more 
extreme  materialistic  socialism  of  Labriola  and  Marx,  to 
the  moderate  Christian  socialism  of  Maurice  and  Rausch- 
enbusch.    Not  only  so,  but  the  socialistic  programme 


92 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


shades  off  into  the  most  pronounced  communism  on  the 
one  hand,  or  into  the  mild  doctrines  of  the  Fabian  Society 
on  the  other.  And  once  more,  among  the  advocates  of 
socialism  are  found  men  who  approximate  the  doctrines 
of  anarchism  on  the  one  hand,  and  others  who  believe  in 
the  widest  extension  of  State  action,  though  it  may  be  an 
exaggeration  to  say  that  socialism  is  a  very  Proteus, 
possessing  almost  as  many  aspects  as  exponents  (Lilly, 
"First  Principles  in  Politics,"  p.  124).  The  author 
named  agrees  with  Professor  Luigi  Cossa  in  his  com- 
plaint that  "  classification  has  a  hard  road  to  travel  when 
it  enters  the  tangle  of  jarring  socialistic  sects."  It  is  not 
easy  to  find  any  one  definition  that  is  comprehensive 
enough  to  cover  the  whole  doctrine  in  all  its  varying 
views.  There  are,  however,  certain  constant  factors,  and 
these  constitute  the  essential  elements. 

In  a  general  way  it  may  be  said  that  socialism  repre- 
sents a  state  of  mind  and  a  definite  programme.  In  the 
first  sense  it  describes  a  tendency  and  an  aspiration;  it 
includes  the  views  and  efforts  of  those  who  seek  to  bring 
about  a  gradual  betterment  in  human  conditions.  Thus 
a  noted  advocate  of  this  view  (Proudhon)  when  asked 
by  the  magistrate,  "  What  then  is  socialism  ?  "  replied : 
"  Every  aspiration  after  the  betterment  of  mankind."  "  In 
that  case,"  said  the  magistrate,  "  we  are  all  socialists." 
"  That  is  what  I  have  always  maintained."  To  this  cate- 
gory belongs  the  definition  of  Roscher,  who  says  that  it 
includes  "  those  tendencies  which  demand  a  greater  re- 
gard for  the  common  weal  than  consists  with  human 
nature."  The  avowed  aim  of  the  Christian  socialists  of 
England,  according  to  their  organ,  "  The  Christian  So- 
cialist," is  "  to  diffuse  the  principles  of  co-operation  by 
the  practical  application  of  Christianity  to  the  purposes 
of  trade  and  industry."  The  great  thinkers  in  economics 
and  politics  have  all  been  socialists  in  this  general  sense. 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


93 


The  term  socialism,  in  the  latter  sense,  however,  has  a 
much  more  definite  and  restricted  meaning,  and  this  is 
quite  explicit.  "  The  general  tendency  is  to  regard  as 
socialistic  any  interference  with  property  undertaken  by 
society  on  behalf  of  the  poor,  the  limitation  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  laissez  faire  in  favor  of  the  suffering  classes, 
radical  social  reform  which  disturbs  the  present  system 
of  private  property  as  regulated  by  free  competition " 
(Kirkup,  "Encyc.  Brit.,"  Vol.  XXII,  p.  205).  In  the 
midst  of  the  varying  theories  that  go  by  the  name  of  so- 
cialism there  is  a  kernel  of  principle  that  is  all  essential. 
That  principle  is  of  an  economic  nature,  and  is  most 
clear  and  precise.  To  avoid  the  evils  of  the  unrestricted 
concentration  of  capital  in  a  few  hands,  with  the  subjec- 
tion of  the  great  mass  of  workers;  to  prevent  the  eco- 
nomic anarchy  that  results,  with  the  degradation  of  the 
working-man  and  his  family ;  to  secure  a  more  just  and 
equitable  distribution  of  the  means  and  appliances  of  hap- 
piness, socialists  propose  that  land  and  capital,  which  are 
the  requisites  of  labor  and  the  sources  of  all  wealth  and 
culture,  should  become  the  property  of  society,  and  be 
managed  by  it  for  the  general  good  (Kirkup,  ibid.,  p. 
206).  The  word  thus  connotes  "an  industrial  society, 
which  in  the  main  features  is  sufficiently  clear  and  precise. 
It  is  not  a  theory  which  embraces  all  departments  of  social 
activity,  but  is  confined  to  the  economic  department,  deal- 
ing with  others  simply  as  connected  with  this  and  in- 
fluenced by  it"  (Ely,  "Socialism  and  Social  Reform," 
p.  8).  "The  totality  of  these  industrial  relations  con- 
stitutes the  economic  structure  of  society,  the  real  basis 
upon  which  the  legal  and  political  superstructure  is  built, 
and  to  which  the  definite  forms  of  social  consciousness 
correspond"  (Labriola,  "Materialistic  Conception  of 
History,"  p.  49). 

Two  distinctive  characteristics  we  find  in  the  socialistic 


94 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


conception.  In  the  socialist  teaching  the  State  is  supreme, 
y  and  the  person  exists  for  the  sake  of  society.  In  the  realm 
of  trade  and  industry  this  control  is  absolute,  and  the 
person  has  little  or  no  initiative.  Here  individual  initia- 
tive is  reduced  to  the  minimum  and  State  action  is  raised 
to  the  maximum.  In  the  socialistic  programme  the  chief 
emphasis  is  thrown  upon  economic  and  industrial  inter- 
ests, and  these  are  the  chief  concern  of  the  State.  "  The 
essence  of  the  theory  consists  in  this  associated  produc- 
tion with  a  collective  capital  with  the  view  to  its  equitable 
distribution.  In  the  words  of  Schaeffle,  '  the  Alpha  and 
Omega  is  the  transformation  of  private  capitals  into 
a  united  collective  capital'"  (Kirkup,  "  Encyc.  Brit.," 
Vol.  XXII,  p.  206).  The  basis  of  society,  socialists 
maintain,  is  economic,  and  involves  a  fundamental  change 
in  the  process  of  production  and  distribution. 

However,  while  the  leading  exponents  of  socialism  ad- 
mit this,  they  yet  maintain  that  all  the  other  interests  of 
life  will  be  conserved.  "  All  the  other  theories  so  often 
connected  with  it  and  so  important  in  relation  to  religion, 
philosophy,  marriage,  patriotism,  etc.,  are  with  regard 
to  socialism  non-essential.  At  the  same  time  it  will  be 
seen  that  an  economic  change,  such  as  that  contemplated 
in  socialism,  would  most  powerfully  affect  every  other 
department  of  human  life"  (Kirkup,  ibid.,  p.  220). 
Socialism,  in  its  more  logical  forms,  insists  that  the 
State  is  a  necessary  good.  It  is  necessary  and  is  destined 
to  play  a  much  larger  part  in  the  drama  of  social  develop- 
ment and  human  progress.  It  is  good  and  is  destined 
more  and  more  to  fulfil  its  beneficent  functions.  In  this 
respect  this  type  of  society  is  in  harmony  with  the  last 
type,  the  fraternal,  though  it  differs  widely  from  that  type 
in  certain  essential  respects. 

This  term  socialism  is  a  comparatively  modern  one, 
but  the  idea  connoted  by  the  term  is  undoubtedly  ancient. 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


95 


In  a  brilliant  lecture  Bernard  Bosanquet  has  shown  that 
socialistic  features  "  in  the  way  of  a  very  positive  relation, 
not  a  merely  protective  relation,  between  the  life  of  the 
private  citizen  and  the  action  of  the  public  authority, 
were  for  good  or  for  evil  essential  to  ancient  commu- 
nities." In  all  of  the  Greek  cities,  many  socialistic  elements 
iWere  to  be  found,  and  the  claim  is  made  that  these  were 
largely  responsible  for  the  wonderful  progress  that  was 
achieved  ("  Essays  and  Addresses,"  chap.  iii).  This 
type  of  society  has  many  illustrations  among  the  nations, 
though  of  course  it  has  not  always  borne  its  modern  name. 
The  empire  of  Russia  and  the  republic  of  France,  much 
as  they  differ  in  detail,  belong  to  this  type  of  society.  In 
the  United  States  also  many  socialistic  features  are  to  be 
found,  as  in  the  protective  tariff  and  the  postal  system. 
In  all  of  these  instances  we  have  a  maximum  of  State 
control  and  a  minimum  of  individual  initiative,  and  this  is 
characteristic  of  the  type.  The  State  is  practically  every- 
thing, and  the  individual  has  value  just  so  far  as  he  serves 
the  State. 

Now,  it  may  be  said  that  the  most  thoughtful  stu- 
dents of  social  affairs  are  ready  to  confess  that  the  so- 
cialistic indictment  of  modern  economic  life  in  its  main 
counts  is  essentially  just.  They  also  concede  that  certain 
elements  of  the  socialistic  programme  must  find  illustra- 
tion in  future  social  changes.  Whatever  may  be  its  de- 
fects or  its  advantages,  it  is  inspired  by  a  great  and  wide 
human  sympathy  that  makes  it  most  acceptable  to  the 
modern  man.  And  however  materialistic  may  be  its  aims 
and  programmes,  it  does  insist  that  every  man  shall  have 
a  true  inheritance  in  society  and  the  gains  that  have 
come  to  humanity.  This  ideal  has  played  a  large  part  in 
the  drama  of  the  world's  history  thus  far,  and  it  promises 
to  play  a  leading  role  in  the  near  future.  As  a  protest 
against  the  errors  and  excesses  of  the  individualistic 


96 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


type  of  society  it  is  worthy  of  all  honor.  As  an  effort  to 
solve  some  of  the  problems  of  production  and  distribu- 
tion it  is  engaging  the  attention  of  an  ever-increasing 
number  of  students.  It  is  probable  that  whatever  may 
be  the  form  of  society  in  the  near  future,  it  will  more  and 
more  approximate  the  socialistic  type.  Schaeffle  comes 
to  the  conclusion  that  "  The  future  belongs  to  purified 
socialism " ;  and  in  this  conclusion  we  may  heartily . 
concur. 

But  the  socialistic  ideal  fails  in  several  important 
respects.  For  one  thing,  it  does  not  sufficiently  honor 
the  personalities  of  men,  and  it  makes  light  of  individual 
initiative.  In  whatever  form  it  has  appeared  there  is 
something  arbitrary  and  mechanical  about  it.  The  social- 
istic State  is  only  possible  where  opposites  are  denied  and 
extremes  are  suppressed,  and  where  a  certain  mechanical 
and  artificial  uniformity  is  maintained.  Socialism  is  a 
doctrines  of  averages;  and  men  are  human  beings,  not 
merely  units  in  an  average  or  atoms  in  a  compound.  So- 
cialism means  a  social  levelling  and  that  a  levelling  down ; 
and  the  opportunity  for  untrammeled  individual  develop- 
ment is  the  best  product  of  any  civilization  (Andrews, 
"Wealth  and  Moral  law,"  p.  94).  The  type  of  society 
that  we  seek,  the  only  type  that  humanity  can  finally 
accept,  must  recognize  the  distinctions  and  extremes,  and 
must  then  unite  them  in  some  vital  and  harmonious  whole. 

In  another  respect  the  socialistic  type  fails,  in  that  it 
does  not  give  us  a  high  and  human  and  spiritual  concep- 
tion of  man  and  of  society.  In  this  conception  man  is 
regarded  chiefly  as  an  economic  being,  whose  industrial 
wants  are  the  basic  facts  of  his  life.  Marx  and  Rod- 
bertus,  Loria  and  Labriola,  all  throw  the  chief  emphasis 
upon  the  economic  aspects  of  life.  The  whole  conception 
of  life  and  society,  of  welfare  and  progress,  is  material- 
istic ;  and  all  other  interests  and  relations  of  man  and 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


97 


society  are  construed  in  terms  of  material  well-being. 
This  conception,  as  Mazzini  pointed  out  with  such  acute- 
ness  and  force,  "  mutilates  man  by  taking  from  him  both 
head  and  heart,  and  reduces  him  to  a  purely  physical  and 
fleshly  being"  ("Thoughts  on  Democracy  in  Europe," 
V).  It  is  evident  that  the  State  in  this  conception  is  not 
the  whole  people  organized  in  a  co-operative  capacity  in 
the  interests  of  the  whole  man.  It  is  evident  rather  that 
it  is  the  machinery  of  the  State  employed  in  behalf  of 
certain  economic  and  material  interests  to  the  complete 
exclusion  of  all  the  higher  interests  of  society. 

IV.  The  Fraternal  Type.  Before  we  enter  upon  a 
consideration  of  this  type  of  society  it  may  be  permis- 
sible to  say  a  word  about  another  that  has  played  a 
large  part  in  the  drama  of  social  development  and  is 
now  sometimes  confused  with  the  fraternal  type.  The 
paternal  State,  as  it  may  be  called,  has  had  many  repre- 
sentatives among  the  nations,  and  strenuous  efforts  are 
made  even  now  to  establish  it  in  some  lands.  In 
this  type  of  society  the  State  is  a  kind  of  parent  or 
guardian,  whose  business  it  is  to  govern  men,  to  think 
for  them,  and  to  prescribe  their  mode  of  living.  It  is 
maintained  that  the  great  majority  of  the  people  are  un- 
able to  govern  themselves,  and  so  this  must  be  done  for 
them.  It  is  maintained  also  that  the  majority  are  incom- 
petent to  solve  the  problems  of  thought,  and  so  the  State, 
through  its  auxiliary,  the  church,  must  do  their  thinking 
for  them.  This  type  of  society  was  the  prevalent  one  in 
all  the  great  empires  of  the  past — Egypt  and  Persia, 
China  and  Peru.  It  was  the  prevailing  type  in  Europe 
for  many  centuries,  in  France  and  Russia,  in  Italy  and 
Spain.  The  Jesuits  attempted  to  found  it  among  the 
Indians  of  Paraguay,  but  with  results  that  were  sadly 
disappointing.  It  is  this  type  that  seems  to  be  the  domi- 
nant one  in  the  mind  of  the  Emperor  of  Germany  at  the 

G 


98 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


present  time.  This  type  seems  to  be  the  ideal  in  the  minds 
of  such  acute  thinkers  as  Carlyle  and  Ruskin,  who  be- 
lieve in  the  wisdom  of  the  few  but  have  scant  patience 
with  the  mistakes  of  the  many.  The  idea  of  an  infallible 
church  is  implied  in  this  conception,  a  church  that  shall 
be  all-dominant,  that  shall  have  power  to  enforce  its 
decrees  and  compel  men  to  keep  in  the  straight  and  nar- 
row way.  We  are  told  there  are  tendencies  at  work 
in  society  that  are  creating  this  type,  and  in  the  coming 
age  there  will  be  established  a  benevolent  feudalism  in 
the  foremost  nations  of  the  world. 

We  here  notice  briefly  the  fraternal  type  of  the  State, 
while  later  we  shall  discuss  its  essential  elements  more  in 
detail.  In  this  type  we  find  that  mankind  is  conceived 
of  as  a  great  unity  and  fellowship.  Persons  therein  are 
brothers  who  regard  each  others'  interests  and  co- 
operate for  the  common  welfare.  This  bond  of  brother- 
hood wrought  into  the  very  nature  of  man  and  not 
dependent  upon  any  social  contract  or  human  volition,  is 
the  ground  and  guarantee  of  liberty  and  equality.  In 
this  type  the  State  is  a  social  solidarity  with  a  corporate 
existence ;  it  is  a  moral  person  with  a  corporate  will  that 
is  formulated  in  constitutions  and  laws;  it  is  a  social 
brotherhood  in  which  each  person  has  a  place,  and  for 
whose  welfare  the  State  is  concerned.  In  this  type  the 
government  rests  upon  the  consent  of  the  governed;  it 
represents  the  opinions  and  the  interests  of  all  the 
citizens,  and  it  is  the  medium  of  the  mutual  sacrifices  and 
services  of  all  the  people.  The  whole  being  of  man  is 
taken  into  account;  in  a  word,  we  have  a  confession  of 
brotherhood  in  all  the  relations  of  human  life. 

The  individualistic  type  of  State  recognizes  the  ele- 
ments and  extremes  of  humanity,  but  it  has  no  middle 
term  to  combine  and  harmonize  them.  The  socialistic 
type  denies  and  excludes  the  extremes,  and  in  denying 


THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  STATE 


99 


them  it  denies  the  distinctions  of  human  kind,  and 
copies  only  the  unity  of  the  middle.  The  fraternal  type 
recognizes  the  distinctions  and  extremes  of  mankind, 
and  it  provides  a  unifying  principle  which  combines  them 
all  into  a  vital  and  harmonious  whole.  This  type  em- 
bodies all  that  is  good  and  vital  in  the  paternal  type  in 
that  it  teaches  those  that  are  strong  to  bear  the  in- 
firmities of  the  weak,  and  those  who  possess  much  to 
hold  their  resources  in  trust  for  the  common  good.  In 
a  word,  the  fraternal  type  of  society — which  is  the 
Christian  type — is  the  one  type  that  satisfies  the  demands 
of  reason  and  conscience  and  provides  a  stable  and  ade- 
quate basis  for  social  and  political  States. 

Attempts  have  been  made  from  time  to  time  to  realize 
this  ideal,  but  thus  far  all  such  attempts  have  been  on  a 
small  scale,  and  have  been  short  lived.  In  the  early 
Jerusalem  church  there  was  a  partial  and  transient  reali- 
zation of  this  ideal :  "  And  all  that  believed  were  together 
and  had  all  things  in  common ;  and  they  sold  their  pos- 
sessions and  goods  and  parted  them  to  all  according  as 
any  man  had  need  (Acts  2  :  44).  The  Franciscans  and 
Quakers  each  in  turn  sought  to  realize  the  fraternal  type 
of  society.  The  Covenanters  of  Scotland  cherished  the 
vision  of  a  consecrated  land  of  saints  ruled  by  a  cove- 
nanted king  loyal  to  Christ,  and  pledged  to  seek  the  inter- 
ests of  all  the  people.  The  Puritans,  in  their  day,  hoped 
the  time  might  speedily  come  when  England  might  become 
a  land  of  saints,  "  a  pattern  of  holiness  to  the  world, 
and  the  unmatchable  paradise  of  the  earth."  Though 
all  of  these  particular  efforts  failed  in  their  immediate 
object,  yet  the  ideal  itself  has  lived,  and  through  all  the 
years  it  has  gained  strength  and  significance.  And  it  still 
lives  to  inspire  the  prophetic  soul  of  the  world  and  to  be 
the  architectonic  principle  of  the  Christian  State  that  is 
to  be. 


V 


THE  FORMS  OF  THE  STATE 

IN  our  study  thus  far  we  have  found  that  while  the 
State  is  natural  and  necessary  to  man,  the  State  itself 
becomes  explicit  in  and  through  a  process  of  develop- 
ment, and  that  the  form  which  the  State  assumes  depends 
upon  many  conditioning  factors. 

The  process  carried  forward  in  the  world,  so  far  as 
we  can  read  it,  is  the  building  up  of  a  society  that  shall 
realize  the  thought  of  God.  The  life  of  God  is  seeking 
to  get  itself  reborn  into  the  life  of  humanity,  and  men  are 
called  to  organize  life  according  to  this  divine  purpose. 
Thus  the  State,  which  is  implicit  in  the  will  of  God,  takes 
shape  slowly,  being  hastened  or  retarded  by  the  will  of 
man  and  the  forces  of  society.  It  is  possible  to  view  this 
process  of  universal  history  from  within  or  from  without, 
from  above  or  below.  Thus  we  may  say  human  history 
is  the  progressive  disclosure  of  the  purpose  of  God  in 
human  affairs ;  or  we  may  say  that  human  progress  is 
the  conscious  realization  of  that  purpose  on  the  part  of 
man.  Thus  we  find,  however,  that  these  two  factors  meet 
and  blend  in  the  creation  of  the  social  and  political 
State. 

From  the  beginning  of  political  thought  various  efforts 
have  been  made  to  frame  a  classification  of  States. 
Those  who  are  interested  in  this  may  consult  such  writers 
as  Aristotle  and  Bluntschli,  Rousseau  and  Willoughby, 
Guizot  and  Lieber.  However,  many  of  these  classifica- 
tions are  more  or  less  arbitrary  and  artificial;  they  are 
external  and  formal,  and  do  not  sufficiently  consider  the 

100 


THE  FORMS  OF  THE  STATE  IOI 

spirit  which  lies  back  of  the  form.  Thus,  some  would 
classify  States  according  to  the  degree  of  governmental 
action — that  is,  into  despotic  and  free  governments,  with 
their  variations.  Others  again  would  classify  them  ac- 
cording to  the  various  powers  exercised ;  that  is,  legal, 
paternal,  and  socialistic.  Still  others  would  view  them 
historically ;  that  is,  as  ancient,  classical,  medieval,  and 
modern.  And  still  others  would  divide  them  according 
to  the  possession  or  non-possession  of  some  selected 
feature ;  that  is,  whether  they  possess  a  written  or  an  un- 
written constitution,  whether  the  sovereign  is  hereditary 
or  elective,  and  whether  the  executive  power  is  in  the 
hands  of  one  or  many.  There  is,  however,  as  it  seems  to 
me,  a  method  of  classification  that  embodies  all  that  is 
good  in  all  of  these  systems,  and  yet  deals  with  the  ele- 
ments that  are  most  distinctive.  The  classification  which 
we  shall  adopt  is  one  that  is  based  upon  the  diffusion  of 
political  consciousness  with  the  active  participation  of 
the  people  in  the  affairs  of  government.  Under  four 
forms  it  is  possible  to  classify  practically  every  State 
that  has  yet  appeared  in  the  world.  These  four  classes 
of  States,  the  theocratic,  the  monarchical,  the  aristocratic, 
and  the  democratic,  are  the  great  historical  forms,  and 
they  are  all  deserving  of  careful  study. 

This  classification  in  its  main  details  is  a  very  ancient 
one,  and  takes  us  back  to  the  very  beginnings  of  political 
thought.  Thus  in  Herodotus,  the  father  of  history,  we 
find  three  of  these  forms  described  with  tolerable  ac- 
curacy, and  their  merits  appraised  with  remarkable  judg- 
ment ("Herodotus,"  Bk.  Ill,  Sec.  82,  83).  A  century 
later  Aristotle  practically  adopts  the  same  classification, 
only  with  a  difference.  In  his  treatise  we  have  four 
forms  of  government — monarchy,  aristocracy,  polity, 
or  free  State,  and  democracy,  as  the  corrupt  form  of 
polity.    Another  form  is  suggested  at  a  later  time  by 


102 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Josephus,  that  is  theocracy,  which  is  used  to  describe  the 
Jewish  State  ("  Contra  Apion,"  Bk.  II,  Sec.  17).  These 
classifications  have  stood  the  test,  and  form  the  categories 
of  our  thought  to-day. 

I.  Theocracy.  It  is  fitting  that  Josephus,  who  probably 
coined  the  word,  should  be  allowed  to  define  its  meaning. 
By  theocracy  he  means  a  government  whose  authority 
and  power  are  with  God,  whose  will  is  the  sole  law  of  the 
nation.  This  law  covers  the  whole  range  of  life,  and 
leaves  nothing  of  the  very  smallest  consequence  to  the 
pleasure  of  the  person  himself.  It  is  made  known  to  men 
through  legislators  and  priests  who  serve  as  representa- 
tives of  Jehovah,  and  consequently  never  think  of  speak- 
ing on  their  own  authority. 

It  has  often  been  pointed  out  that  theocracy,  as  a  form 
of  the  State,  belongs  to  the  early  stages  of  the  human  race. 
In  every  land  where  it  is  possible  to  trace  the  primitive 
State  we  find  that  this  form  of  government  has  pre- 
vailed. In  most  cases  the  gods  were  regarded  as  the 
parents  of  the  people,  and  hence  their  authority  was 
supreme.  In  the  most  real  sense  they  were  honored  as 
the  creator  of  the  tribe,  or  people,  and  the  people  hence 
placed  themselves  under  their  protection  and  govern- 
ment. Among  all  ancient  peoples  this  same  fact  is  seen, 
though  of  course,  with  wide  variations  and  modifications 
(De  Coulanges,  "  The  Ancient  City,"  passim). 

Perhaps  the  most  notable  illustration  of  this  form  of 
the  State  is  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  people  of 
Israel.  In  this  history  we  have  the  conception  of  Jehovah 
as  the  Creator  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  as  the 
God  and  King  of  the  people  themselves.  He  it  is  who 
called  Abram  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  and  gave  him 
the  promise  of  an  inheritance  in  the  new  land.  He  it  is 
who  led  the  fathers  out  of  the  bondage  of  Egypt  and 
established  them  in  the  land  of  Canaan.    He  it  is  who 


THE  FORMS  OF  THE  STATE 


103 


raised  up  Moses  to  be  a  deliverer  and  lawgiver,  speaking 
through  him  and  giving  the  people  the  Two  Tables  of  the 
Law.  He  it  is  also  who,  when  the  people  were  troubled 
and  enslaved  by  neighboring  peoples,  raised  up  a  deliverer 
and  wrought  great  wonders,  thus  proving  himself  to  be 
their  King.  "  The  whole  soil  of  the  Promised  Land 
is  the  property  of  Jehovah,  and  the  various  families  only 
held  it  as  tenants.  In  recognition  of  the  divine  ownership 
a  tenth  of  the  produce  of  the  land  and  flocks  had  to  be 
given  to  the  tabernacle  for  the  maintenance  of  the  priests  " 
Bluntschli,  Bk.  VI,  chap.  vi).  In  common  with  all  Sem- 
ites there  were  three  things  which  the  Israelites  asked 
of  their  God,  and  believed  themselves  to  receive — help 
against  their  enemies;  counsel  by  oracles  or  soothsayers 
in  matters  of  national  difficulty ;  and  a  sentence  of  judg- 
ment when  a  case  was  too  hard  for  human  decision 
(W.  Robertson  Smith,  "  The  Religion  of  the  Semites,"  p. 
64). 

It  is  easy  to  see  how,  under  such  circumstances,  a 
priesthood  should  arise  which  should  stand  between  God 
and  the  people.  Because  of  their  relation  to  God  on  the 
one  hand  and  the  people  on  the  other,  they  were  sacro- 
sanct beings,  and  their  words  carried  irresistible  weight. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  the  priesthood  in  nearly  every 
ancient  nation  was  practically  supreme,  making  and  un- 
making rulers  and  laws,  and  dominating  thought  and 
life  in  the  minutest  details.  It  is  easy,  also,  to  see  how, 
under  such  circumstances,  a  kingship  should  flourish, 
basing  its  claims  to  human  loyalty  and  submission  upon 
its  alleged  relations  to  the  God  of  the  nation.  An  appeal 
to  history  will  show  that  theocratic  governments  have 
usually  been  the  most  autocratic  and  despotic  tyrannies ; 
they  have  been  the  upholders  of  caste  and  slavery,  and 
they  have  cast  a  malign  spell  over  thought  and  life.  For 
this  reason  theocracy,  as  a  form  of  government,  has  not 


104  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

been  highly  regarded  by  students  of  political  science, 
and  one  must  confess  that  this  suspicion  is  not  without 
cause. 

There  is  one  aspect  of  this  form  of  government  that 
we  may  notice  as  germane  to  our  purpose.  In  a  theo- 
cratic State  the  government  is  wholly  external  and  formal. 
It  is  something  that  comes  down  upon  men  rather  than 
something  that  rises  through  men;  hence  there  is  little 
or  no  political  self-consciousness  on  the  part  of  the  people ; 
no  man  feels  any  responsibility  for  the  affairs  of  State. 
The  ruler  is  regarded  as  a  supernatural  being  who  is 
raised  above  men  by  nature,  and  they  have  but  one  duty 
in  life — to  know  and  do  his  will. 

II.  Monarchy.  This  is  probably  the  most  widely 
recognized  form  of  the  State.  But  it  is  not  easy  to  frame 
a  satisfactory  definition  for  the  reason  that  a  pure  form 
is  seldom  found.  Historically  it  has  shaded  off  into 
theocracy  on  the  one  hand  and  into  aristocracy  on  the 
other.  A  monarchy  is  the  term  usually  employed  to  de- 
scribe a  government  in  which  the  sovereign  power  is  in 
the  hands  of  one  man,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  are 
States  termed  monarchical  in  which  the  nominal  head — 
as  in  England — possesses  only  a  semblance  of  supreme 
power.  Thus  also  the  term  is  used  to  describe  an  auto- 
cratic and  irresponsible  despotism,  as  in  the  old  empires 
of  Peru  and  China;  and  it  is  likewise  applied  to  the 
constitutional  and  limited  monarchy  of  Germany  and 
Japan.  Those  who  are  interested  in  the  study  of  these 
varying  forms  of  monarchy  may  find  an  informing  dis- 
cussion in  "  The  Theory  of  the  State,"  by  Bluntschli. 
and  "  Introduction  to  Political  Science,"  by  Seeley. 

In  a  broad  sense  monarchy  describes  a  form  of  govern- 
ment in  which  sovereignty  resides  in  one  person.  This 
person  may  not  always  be  sovereign  in  the  sense  that  all 
political  power  is  in  his  hands,  but  he  represents  sover- 


THE  FORMS  OF  THE  STATE  105 

eignty  in  a  special  sense,  and  the  decrees  of  government 
are  always  issued  in  his  name.  This  is  so  in  such  a 
constitutional  and  democratic  government  as  Great 
Britain,  where  it  is  called  "  The  Majesty's  government  " ; 
and  it  is  true  of  such  an  autocratic  monarchy  as  Russia, 
where  the  czar  claims  the  final  sovereignty.  In  an  auto- 
cratic government  the  one  person  is  supreme,  and  the 
authority  of  a  subordinate  is  delegated  and  conferred 
authority.  In  many  of  the  great  empires  of  the  past  this 
form  of  government  prevailed,  and  we  find  autocracy 
raised  to  the  nth  power.  In  the  modern  world,  however, 
there  are  few  States  of  this  class,  since  a  new  spirit  is 
abroad  working  mighty  changes.  Thus  Russia  is  some- 
times denominated  an  autocratic  State  with  one  man  as 
the  supreme  and  sole  authority.  But  even  in  Russia 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  pure  monarchy,  for  the  czar 
is  dependent  upon  the  officers  of  State,  and  practically 
at  least  Russia  is  a  beaurocracy.  Still  less  is  Russia  an 
absolute  monarchy  since  the  establishment  of  the  third 
Duma,  which  has  successfully  exercised  parliamentary 
rights.  In  addition,  no  czar,  however  strong  or  despotic, 
would  dare  to  disregard  too  far  the  interests  or  traverse 
too  rudely  the  wills  of  the  silent  millions.  Russia  may  be 
described  as  an  autocratic  monarchy  limited  by  the  pa- 
tience and  loyalty  of  her  people. 

In  other  States  the  monarchical  form  of  government  is 
found  in  varying  degrees.  There  is  what  is  called  limited 
and  constitutional  monarchy,  where  the  dignity  and  power 
of  the  monarch  are  limited  and  regulated  by  constitutions 
either  written  or  unwritten.  In  Great  Britain  we  have 
a  constitutional  monarchy  without  any  written  constitu- 
tion beyond  certain  charters  and  declarations ;  but  none 
the  less  there  are  certain  recognized  conventions  that  are 
binding  upon  all,  sovereign  and  people  alike.  We  have 
here  also  a  Parliament  composed  of  two  houses,  one 


106  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

hereditary  or  appointive — the  House  of  Lords  and  Bish- 
ops ;  and  the  other  the  House  of  Commons,  chosen  by 
the  direct  vote  of  the  people.  In  the  case  of  disagree- 
ment between  these  two  houses  the  House  of  Commons 
may  appeal  to  the  people,  and  if  by  their  votes  they  sus- 
tain it  the  House  of  Lords  and  even  the  king  himself 
would  yield.  The  king  names  the  prime  minister,  who 
selects  his  own  cabinet,  and  so  long  as  Parliament  ac- 
cepts the  policy  of  the  cabinet,  all  goes  well ;  but  in  case 
Parliament  refuses  to  accept  this  policy  and  "  to  uphold 
the  government,"  that  moment  the  prime  minister  resigns 
and  another  is  named  by  the  king,  whose  policy  is  more 
in  accord  with  the  will  of  the  people.  Parliament  is  really 
supreme  and  can  make  and  unmake  cabinets ;  it  can  ac- 
cept or  reject  the  royal  counsels;  in  fact,  it  can  dethrone 
kings  and  determine  succession.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
while  the  throne  of  England  is  a  hereditary  monarchy, 
the  sovereign  has  not  so  much  real  authority  as  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

III.  Aristocracy.  This  is  a  government  of  the  few  and 
by  the  best.  "  The  ideal  principle  of  aristocracy  is  the 
rule  of  the  nobler  elements  of  the  nation  over  the  sub- 
ordinate masses.  The  way  in  which  these  nobler  ele- 
ments are  estimated  and  exalted  varies  in  different  States  " 
(Bluntschli,  "The  Theory  of  the  State,  Bk.  VI,  chap, 
xvii).  In  some  instances  these  so-called  nobler  ele- 
ments have  based  their  prerogatives  upon  the  possession 
of  effective  power,  the  masses  of  the  people  being  held  in 
subjection.  In  some  cases  these  prerogatives  are  based 
upon  the  ownership  of  the  land,  and  here  a  few  hold 
the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the  great  mass  and  use  them  at 
their  own  pleasure.  In  some  cases  these  prerogatives 
are  based  upon  nobility  of  blood  and  birth. 

Aristocracy,  as  the  name  implies,  is  a  government  by 
the  best,  but  aristocracy,  as  it  has  appeared  in  history, 


THE  FORMS  OF  THE  STATE  I07 

has  not  always  merited  this  high  title.  Aristotle,  in  his 
day,  described  the  perversion  of  aristocracy,  which  he 
calls  the  rule  of  the  few,  the  rich,  the  strong,  the  self- 
assertive,  and  not  the  rule  of  the  wisest,  the  noblest,  the 
best.  All  forms  of  government  are  liable  to  abuse  and 
perversion,  but  this  form  is  especially  prone  to  degener- 
ation. An  aristocracy,  however  constituted,  easily  and 
quickly  becomes  jealous  of  its  dignities  and  prerogatives. 
Aristocracies  have  usually  glorified  the  past,  and  thus 
have  always  resisted  change.  They  seek  to  preserve  the 
eternal  order  and  resent  the  aspirations  of  the  people  as 
an  infringement  of  their  special  privileges.  In  every  State 
in  which  an  aristocratic  element  is  found — and  it  is  found 
in  every  State  in  some  form  or  other — this  element  is 
always  the  defender  of  things  as  they  are,  and  always  the 
opposer  of  things  as  the  people  think  they  ought  to  be. 
Thus,  from  one  cause  and  another,  it  has  come  about  that 
men  have  become  very  suspicious  of  either  aristocracy 
or  oligarchy,  and  as  a  result  no  pure  example  of  this 
form  of  the  State  has  survived  later  than  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  aristocratic  element 
holds  a  large  place  in  all  modern  progressive  States.  As 
human  society  becomes  more  complex  the  problems  of 
government  become  more  difficult ;  and  the  various  de- 
partments must  be  manned  by  experts.  Not  every  man 
can  fill  the  office  of  attorney  general,  or  secretary  of 
State ;  picked  men  are  required  for  these  offices,  and  for 
many  others.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  even  in  the  most 
democratic  government,  large  powers  must  be  delegated 
to  special  men,  the  true  aristoi  in  the  nation.  No  govern- 
ment, in  its  executive  and  judicial  departments  at  least, 
can  be  run  by  a  debating  society ;  in  all  of  these  positions, 
and  in  many  others,  the  best  results  will  come  from 
trained  and  qualified  men.    This  has  been  recognized  by 


io8 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


all  the  keenest  minds  of  the  ages;  and  it  is  emphasized 
in  later  times  by  such  men  as  Carlyle  and  Mazzini  and 
Ruskin  and  Emerson.  These  men,  it  may  be  said,  had 
no  use  for  kings  and  sham  aristocrats,  but  they  were 
clear-sighted  enough  to  see  that  the  many  were  unpre- 
pared for  the  higher  offices  of  State. 

There  are  many  in  the  world  to-day  who  assert  that 
the  governments  of  the  world  are  becoming  increas- 
ingly oligarchic;  that  is,  they  are  falling  under  the  in- 
fluence and  sway  of  the  rich  and  strong.  That  this 
is  not  wholly  without  basis  we  shall  see  in  a  later  chapter ; 
but  that  the  world  will  long  tolerate  any  such  government 
all  history  disproves.  The  whole  tendency  of  the  day  is 
from  class  government  and  not  toward  it. 

IV.  Democracy.  This  form  of  the  State  has  been 
known  for  twenty-five  centuries  at  least,  and  at  first 
sight  seems  very  easy  to  define.  The  attempt,  however, 
proves  it  by  no  means  so  simple  a  matter.  The  term 
democracy  is  an  old  one,  being  known  to  Herodotus,  and 
everything  indicates  that  it  was  a  common  term.  There 
were  so-called  democracies  in  ancient  Greece,  but  these 
older  conceptions  differed  widely  from  our  modern  ideas. 
Not  only  so,  but  in  some  of  the  most  democratic  countries 
in  the  world,  as  in  Switzerland  and  the  United  States, 
there  are  such  restrictions  and  limitations  that  in  some 
aspects  these  governments  may  be  described  as  aristocra- 
cies in  both  form  and  spirit.  In  Switzerland  the  privi- 
leges of  citizenship  are  limited  to  certain  classes  of  men, 
and  in  the  United  States  women  are  not  regarded  as  full 
citizens.  In  Switzerland  there  is  a  limitation  of  the 
franchise,  and  in  the  United  States  the  government  is 
strictly  representative.  Thus,  even  in  the  most  modern 
and  democratic  States  we  find  certain  aristocratic  ele- 
ments. And  thus  all  forms  of  government  shade  off  into 
others  by  imperceptible  degrees.    The  government  of 


THE  FORMS  OF  THE  STATE 


109 


every  State  in  the  civilized  world  possesses  some 
elements  of  other  forms. 

There  is  another  thing  that  should  be  noted  in  the  use 
of  this  term  democracy.  Aristotle,  who  gives  us  the  first 
full  and  formal  classification  of  States,  does  not  give 
democracy  a  very  honorable  place.  He  regards  it  as 
the  perverted  and  degenerate  form  of  polity,  which  he 
defines  as  a  government  where  the  citizens  at  large  direct 
their  policy  to  the  public  good  ("  Politics,"  Bk.  Ill,  chap, 
vii).  With  him  monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  polity  are  the 
three  true  forms  of  the  State,  while  despotism,  oligarchy, 
and  democracy  are  the  perversions  of  these.  The  polity 
of  Aristotle  was  a  constitutional  State  under  the  control 
of  the  free  citizens,  who  met  in  ecclesia  to  discuss  and 
frame  measures  for  the  public  good.  But  in  these  States, 
as  he  saw  them,  it  happened  often  that  some  popular 
orator  and  unprincipled  demagogue  in  an  adroit  and 
sophistic  address  appealed  to  and  carried  the  crowd  with 
him  against  the  better  judgment  of  the  more  thought- 
ful citizens.  Then  the  democracy,  the  common  people, 
overstepped  the  bounds  of  polity  or  public  good,  and  sup- 
ported only  such  measures  as  appealed  to  individual 
interests  and  the  passing  whim.  In  consequence  of  this 
inevitable  tendency  in  democracy,  Xenophon  declares  that 
in  his  native  city  the  lot  of  the  wicked  and  foolish  was 
better  than  that  of  the  wise  and  good. 

In  later  times  the  term  democracy  stands  for  every 
form  of  popular  government.  In  the  foremost  demo- 
cratic States,  written  constitutions  have  been  adopted, 
in  many  respects  conforming  to  the  polity  of  Aristotle. 
From  one  cause  and  another  the  term  has  been  cleared 
of  some  of  its  unsavory  associations,  and  has  become  the 
accepted  title  of  that  form  of  government  in  which  the 
sovereign  power  resides  in  the  mass  of  the  people. 
Perhaps  the  most  familiar  and  characteristic  definition  is 


no 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


that  of  President  Lincoln,  in  his  Gettysburg  address, 
"  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people." 

There  is  one  aspect  of  this  general  question  that  is 
germane  to  our  purpose  here,  and  this  may  be  noted. 
The  man  who  believes  in  the  rationality  of  the  universe 
believes  that  there  is  some  great  purpose  that  is  being 
wrought  out  in  the  processes  of  history.  This  purpose  is 
nothing  less  than  the  coming  of  God's  kingdom  in  the 
earth  and  the  building  up  among  men  of  the  City  of 
God.  Through  the  ages  man  has  painfully  and  slowly 
apprehended  the  purpose  that  is  being  wrought  out  in 
the  world,  and  hence  he  has  imperfectly  and  haltingly 
learned  the  art  of  self-direction  and  conscious  co-opera- 
tion. But  with  it  all,  through  all  the  generations,  man 
has  slowly  and  surely  come  to  self-consciousness  and  has 
progressively  learned  the  art  of  self-government.  As 
this  self-consciousness  grows  it  manifests  itself  in  vari- 
ous ways,  and  by  the  nature  of  the  case  it  creates  around 
itself  various  forms  for  its  expression  and  use.  In  a 
large  sense  it  may  be  said  that  the  historic  forms  in  which 
the  State  has  appeared  among  men  are  the  revelations  and 
realizations  of  this  political  self-consciousness  of  the 
people. 

In  view  of  this,  the  various  forms  of  the  State  con- 
sidered have  a  vital  significance  and  a  world  meaning. 
In  a  theocracy  there  is  little  or  no  political  self-conscious- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  people,  and 
consequently  no  man  is  held  responsible  for  the  affairs  of 
State.  In  a  monarchy,  where  one  man  is  supreme,  the 
average  man  has  no  conception  of  personal  freedom,  as 
he  has  little  political  self-consciousness.  In  an  aristocracy 
a  few  men  are  free,  but  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
think  of  themselves  as  subjects,  and  not  as  sovereigns, 
and  so  have  little  sense  of  political  obligation.    In  a 


THE  FORMS  OF  THE  STATE 


III 


democracy  or  free  State,  the  people  think  of  themselves 
as  sovereign,  are  becoming  more  or  less  conscious  of 
political  ties,  and  begin  to  feel  the  obligation  to  co- 
operate consciously  for  the  common  weal.  The  form  of 
government  is  the  expression  of  the  political  self-con- 
sciousness of  the  people,  and  the  growth  of  this  political 
^consciousness  is  revealed  and  measured  in  the  institutions 
of  society  and  the  enactments  of  government.  It  can 
readily  be  seen  that  the  democratic  or  free  State  belongs 
to  the  advanced  stages  of  human  freedom  and  develop- 
ment, that  it  is  only  possible  where  men  are  conscious 
of  the  political  ties  that  bind  them  together,  and  are 
learning  to  co-operate  and  sacrifice  for  the  common  weal. 

It  is  just  here  that  we  perceive  the  difference  between 
democracy  and  the  other  forms  of  the  State.  Why  have 
men,  in  Western  lands  at  least,  learned  to  call  the  govern- 
ment of  one  man  a  tyranny  and  the  government  of  all 
men  a  blessing  ?  This  is  why :  In  the  one  case  the  gov- 
ernment is  something  arbitrary  and  external,  something 
imposed  upon  the  people  from  without ;  in  the  other  case 
it  is  personal  and  voluntary,  the  freely  chosen  limitation 
of  the  people  themselves,  by  themselves,  for  the  sake  of 
the  common  good.  And  this  gives  us  the  very  essence  of 
the  democratic  conception,  and  with  this  we  are  here 
content. 

There  are  two  things  which  every  student  of  political 
affairs  needs  to  keep  in  mind,  whatever  may  be  the  form 
of  the  State  in  which  men  live.  The  first  is  this :  that  in 
every  State,  whatever  may  be  its  form  of  government, 
there  are  certain  tasks  and  problems  that  are  practically 
the  same.  "  Understand  then,  once  for  all,  that  no  form 
of  government,  provided  it  be  a  government  at  all  is,  as 
such,  to  be  either  condemned  or  praised,  or  contested  for 
in  anywise,  but  by  fools.  But  all  forms  of  government 
are  good  just  so  far  as  they  attain  this  one  vital  neces- 


112 


THE  CHRISTIAN'  STATE 


sity  of  policy — that  the  wise  and  kind,  few  or  many,  shall 
govern  the  unwise  and  unkind ;  and  they  are  evil  so  far 
as  they  miss  of  this,  or  reverse  it  "  (Ruskin,  "  Munera 
Pulveris,"  Sec.  125). 

The  other  fact  is  this :  that  the  form  of  the  government 
is  the  expression  of  the  political  life  and  consciousness  of 
the  people,  and  is  probably  that  form  for  which  the 
people  at  that  stage  are  best  adapted.  At  any  rate  it  is 
manifest  that  the  higher  and  later  forms  are  ill  adapted  to 
men  in  a  lower  stage  of  civilization,  with  a  faint  social 
consciousness,  and  with  little  experience  in  self-govern- 
ment and  political  co-operation.  As  in  nature,  so  in  so- 
ciety; as  the  life  of  the  tree  rises  from  the  ground  and 
pushes  out  toward  the  branches,  the  tree  itself  changes 
and  grows  to  adapt  itself  to  the  new  conditions  and  to 
conserve  the  new  life ;  so  in  society,  as  the  social  con- 
sciousness unfolds  and  men  learn  the  divine  art  of  living 
together,  new  forms  of  society  are  created  and  new  po- 
litical institutions  are  framed  as  the  expression  and 
realization  of  the  new  life  within. 


Book  II.  Democracy 


H 


The  idea  of  legally  establishing  inalienable,  inherent,  and 
sacred  rights  of  the  individual  is  not  of  political  but  religious 
origin.  What  has  been  held  to  be  a  work  of  the  Revolution  was, 
in  reality,  a  work  of  the  Reformation  and  its  struggles.  Its 
first  apostle  was  not  Lafayette,  but  Roger  Williams  who,  driven 
by  a  powerful  and  deep  religious  enthusiasm,  went  into  the 
wilderness  in  order  to  found  a  government  of  religious  liberty, 
and  his  name  is  uttered  by  Americans  even  to-day  with  deepest 
respect.  — Jellinek,  Rights  of  Man  and  of  Citizens,  p.  77. 

The  idea  of  democracy  is  not,  if  we  look  below  the  surface, 
so  much  a  form  of  government  as  a  confession  of  human  brother- 
hood. It  is  the  equal  recognition  of  mutual  obligations.  It  is 
the  confession  of  common  duties,  common  aims,  common  respon- 
sibilities. True  democracy — and  in  this  lies  its  abiding  strength — 
substitutes  duties  for  rights.  This  substitution  changes  the  center 
of  gravity  of  our  whole  social  system,  and  brings  the  promise  of 
stable  peace. 

— Brooke  Foss  Westcott,  The  Incarnation  and  Common  Life, 
P-  349- 

When  wilt  thou  save  the  people? 

O  God  of  mercy,  when? 
The  people,  Lord  !    The  people ! 

Not  thrones  and  crowns,  but  men. 
God  save  the  people;  thine  they  are; 

Thy  children,  as  thy  angels  fair, 
Save  them  from  bondage  and  despair. 

God  save  the  people ! 

— From  Ebenezer  Elliott. 

It  is  therefore  in  the  highest  degree  illogical  to  argue  that 
the  State  can  never  extend  its  powers.  It  is  the  organ  of  social 
consciousness,  and  must  ever  seek  to  obey  the  will  of  society. 
Whatever  society  demands  it  must  and  always  will  endeavor  to 
supply.  If  it  fails  at  first  it  will  continue  to  try  until  success  at 
last  crowns  its  efforts.  If  it  is  ignorant  it  will  educate  itself,  if 
in  no  other  way  by  the  method  of  trial  and  effort. 
— Lester  F.  Ward,  Psychic  Factors  of  Civilization,  pp.  302,  303. 

This  Bible  is  for  the  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
and  for  the  people. 

— Introduction  to  Wycliffe's  Bible,  1384. 


VI 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 

HE  story  of  democracy  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating 


x  that  has  ever  been  told.  In  a  large  sense  it  repre- 
sents the  long  struggle  of  the  human  spirit  to  emancipate 
itself  and  to  become  its  own  master.  In  a  true  sense  also 
it  defines  the  purpose  that  is  being  wrought  out  in  human 
society  and  the  process  by  which  it  is  being  realized. 

The  term  democracy  is  an  old  one,  as  old  at  least  as 
the  time  of  Herodotus.  And  the  familiar  use  of  the  term 
by  the  historian  proves  that  it  had  behind  it  a  consider- 
able antiquity.  It  is  sometimes  said,  however,  that  de-'j 
mocracy  is  a  Christian  product,  and  that  democracy  as 
a  fact  is  the  child  of  the  Reformation.  And  it  is  quite 
possible,  indeed,  that  this  contention  can  be  sustained. 
There  is  here  no  contradiction,  for  the  more  carefully 
we  study  the  rise  and  development  of  the  democratic 
movement,  the  more  clearly  we  see  that  there  has  been 
a  preparation  for  the  event  itself,  and  this  preparation 
created  the  atmosphere  in  which  the  new  movement 
grew. 

There  are  several  lines  of  investigation  that  may  be 
followed  by  any  one  who  would  discover  the  beginnings 
of  democracy.  Thus,  he  may  go  through  history  and  note 
where  democratic  institutions  have  appeared  and  seek  to 
correlate  these  and  show  their  relation  to  our  modern 
institutions.  Again,  he  may  go  through  the  nations  and 
observe  the  transfer  and  transit  of  power  and  sovereignty 
from  the  one  to  the  few,  and  from  the  few  to  the  many, 
noting  also  the  causes  and  results  of  these  outward  po- 


"5 


n6 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


litical  changes.  In  this  way  he  may  gain  ar  very  clear 
idea  of  the  democratic  movement,  and  may  note  the  many 
racial  contributions  toward  the  one  great  end.  And  once 
more,  he  may  study  the  process  whereby  the  limitations 
and  restrictions  that  are  upon  men,  whether  political, 
religious,  or  social,  are  removed  and  they  become  full 
free  citizens  in  the  State.  And  last  of  all,  he  may  follow 
the  progress  of  mankind,  going  behind  the  actual  forms 
and  institutions  of  the  hour  and  watching  the  self- 
consciousness  of  man  as  it  grows  and  unfolds,  and  be- 
comes at  last  the  modern  social  and  political  consciousness 
of  the  foremost  peoples.  It  is  possible  that  the  one  who 
would  discover  the  true  causes  and  beginnings  of  democ- 
racy must  follow  all  of  these  lines,  and  must  then  combine 
their  results.  The  most  important  factor  for  our  purpose 
is  the  last,  and  we  are  here  concerned  primarily  with 
that  growing  self-consciousness  which  has  produced  such 
great  changes  in  society  and  has  made  democracy  in- 
evitable. 

I.  The  Foregleams  of  Democracy.  Herodotus  records 
a  discussion  of  three  Persians  concerning  the  relative 
merits  of  the  various  kinds  of  government.  While  this 
discussion  may  be  the  historian's  own  invention,  it  yet 
indicates  that  the  idea  was  a  somewhat  familiar  one.  A 
century  later  Aristotle  devotes  a  large  part  of  his  work 
on  "  Politics  "  to  a  consideration  of  this  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  many  things  indicate  that  there  were  many 
democratic  States  in  his  age.  The  great  days  of  Grecian 
life,  the  times  when  hope  was  young  and  genius  flourished, 
were  the  days  in  which  democracy  was  more  or  less 
regnant.  It  is  possible  to  go  to  the  history  of  several  of 
these  Greek  States  and  find  a  very  close  relation  be- 
tween the  democratic  spirit  and  the  productions  of  human 
genius.  In  his  "  History  of  European  Morals,"  Lecky 
considers  what  he  calls  one  of  the  anomalies  of  historv 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


117 


"  that  within  the  narrow  limits  and  scanty  population  of 
the  Greek  States  should  have  arisen  men  who,  in  almost 
every  conceivable  form  of  genius  in  philosophy,  in  epic, 
dramatic,  and  lyric  poetry,  in  written  and  spoken  elo- 
quence, in  statesmanship,  in  sculpture,  in  painting,  and 
probably  also  in  music,  should  have  attained  almost  or 
altogether  the  highest  limits  of  human  perfection  ("  His- 
tory of  European  Morals,"  Vol.  I,  p.  418).  And  from  his 
studies  in  hereditary  genius  Galton  concluded  that  "  the 
ablest  race  of  which  history  bears  record  is  unquestionably 
the  ancient  Greeks,  partly  because  their  masterpieces  in 
the  principal  departments  of  intellectual  activity  are  still 
unsurpassed,  and  partly  because  the  population  which 
gave  birth  to  the  creators  of  these  masterpieces  was  very 
small"  ("Hereditary  Genius,"  p.  329).  And  be  it  re--, 
membered  that  these  Greek  States  at  the  hour  of  their 
greatest  greatness  were  democratic,  in  the  ancient  sense  I 
of  the  term  at  least. 

But  while  the  term  democracy  is  an  old  one,  we  find 
that  democracy  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term  was 
wholly  unknown  in  the  ancient  world.  Thus  Thirlwall 
says :  "  The  term  democracy  is  used  by  Aristotle  some- 
times in  a  larger  sense,  so  as  to  include  several  forms  of 
government,  which,  notwithstanding  their  common  char- 
acter, were  distinguished  from  each  other  by  peculiar 
features ;  at  other  times  in  a  narrower,  to  denote  a  form 
essentially  vicious,  which  stands  in  the  same  relation  to 
the  happy  temperament  to  which  he  gave  the  name  polity, 
as  oligarchy  to  aristocracy,  or  tyranny  to  royalty " 
("Historian's  History  of  the  World,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  179). 
A  study  of  ancient  records  will  show  that  no  philosopher 
or  statesman  in  ancient  Greece  ever  conceived  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people  universal  and  imprescriptible, 
but  one  and  all  based  citizenship  in  the  State  upon  the 
possession  of  certain  privileges  and  prerogatives.  This 


Il8  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

must  be  said,  however,  that  these  Grecian  experiments, 
voicing  as  they  did  a  splendid  aspiration  after  life  and 
liberty,  remained  to  fructify  the  thought  of  man  and  to 
produce  great  results  in  far-off  ages. 

The  contribution  of  Rome  to  the  democratic  movement 
is  comparatively  small,  and  at  best  is  indirect.  It  is  true 
that  the  early  life  of  Rome  was  more  or  less  democratic, 
and  there  were  times  when  this  form  of  government 
seemed  about  to  be  established.  This  is  certain,  that  in 
the  history  of  Rome  we  have  repeated  illustrations  of 
the  transit  of  power  from  the  one  to  the  few  and  from 
the  few  to  the  many.  Thus,  in  the  early  days  of  the 
republic,  we  find  that  the  commons  are  made  an  order 
in  the  State  and  have  judges  of  their  own  ("  Historian's 
History  of  the  World,"  Vol.  V,  p.  113).  For  many  gen- 
erations the  plebs  complained  of  the  patricians,  and  at 
last  they  revolted  against  them  and  gained  formal  recog- 
nition in  the  State.  In  the  fifth  century  B.  C.  the  pa- 
tricians and  the  Senate  yielded,  and  a  new  compact  was 
devised  which  gave  the  plebeians  official  representatives 
and  made  them  an  independent  body  ("  Historian's  His- 
tory," ibid.,  p.  126).  Once  more,  there  was  a  great  move- 
ment in  behalf  of  popular  government  in  the  time  of  the 
Gracchi,  a  movement,  be  it  said,  that  did  much  to  pro- 
mote democracy,  and  that  gave  birth  to  some  noble  ap- 
peals from  the  people.  In  the  time  of  Sulla  the  last  ves- 
tige of  democracy  disappeared,  never  more  to  show  itself 
in  Rome  till  the  mighty  empire  had  crumbled  into  ruins. 
Thus  the  history  of  the  Roman  republic  is  the  progres- 
sive decline  of  the  people  from  a  monarchy  through  a 
modified  democracy,  ending  at  last  in  an  absolute  des- 
potism. 

One  of  the  most  significant  contributions  to  this  move- 
ment is  made  by  the  Germanic  peoples,  especially  those 
occupying  the  portions  of  the  Continent  known  as  Fries- 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


119 


land  and  the  Rhine  land.  Julius  Caesar  gives  a  few  vivid 
descriptions  of  these  peoples,  but  the  graphic  pages  of 
Tacitus  bring  them  before  us  with  remarkable  distinct- 
ness. To  rebuke  the  vices  of  his  own  age  and  people  it 
is  possible  that  the  historian  has  added  some  high  colors 
to  the  picture,  but  none  the  less  the  picture  is  a  significant 
one.  Motley's  summary  is  followed  in  its  main  details. 
The  German  system,  he  says,  while  nominally  regal,  was| 
in  reality  democratic ;  for  with  the  Germans  the  sover-( 
eignty  resided  in  the  great  assembly  of  the  people.  There 
were  slaves,  indeed,  but  in  small  numbers,  consisting 
either  of  prisoners  of  war,  or  of  those  unfortunates  who 
had  gambled  away  their  liberty  in  games  of  chance. 
Their  chieftains,  although  called  by  the  Romans  kings, 
were  in  reality  generals,  chosen  by  universal  suffrage. 
The  same  assembly  elected  the  village  magistrates  and 
decided  upon  all  important  matters  of  war  and  peace.  All 
State  affairs  were  in  the  hands  of  this  fierce  democracy. 
Any  authority  that  the  chieftains  possessed  was  a  dele- 
gated authority,  and  it  was  an  authority  to  persuade 
rather  than  to  command  (Motley,  "  The  Rise  of  the 
Dutch  Republic,"  Vol.  I,  Sec.  2,  5).  Thus  John  Fiske  is 
partially  justified  in  the  statement  that  American  history 
does  not  begin  with  the  Declaration  of  Independence  or 
even  with  the  settlement  of  Jamestown  and  Plymouth; 
but  it  descends  in  unbroken  continuity  from  the  days 
when  stout  Arminius,  in  the  forests  of  northern  Germany, 
successfully  defied  the  might  of  imperial  Rome  (Fiske, 
"  American  Political  Ideas,"  p.  7).  It  is  true  that  many 
of  these  traits  were  lost  to  a  degree  at  least,  and  in  course 
of  time  monarchical  rule  obtained  among  the  various 
Germanic  peoples.  But  the  transfer  of  these  democratic 
ideas  to  England  in  the  early  times  where  there  was  soil 
for  them  to  grow  in  and  produce  results  in  far-off  times  is 
here  in  point. 


120 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


It  is  in  England,  therefore,  that  we  find  those  ideas 
at  work  which  are  prophetic  of  coming  changes ;  and  it  is 
in  England  that  we  find  soil  congenial  for  democratic 
ideas,  at  least  in  the  early  stages  of  their  growth,  for  it 
was  in  England  that  we  witness  what  has  been  fittingly 
called  "  The  Coming  up  of  the  Serfs  "  (Hosmer,  "  Hist,  of 
Anglo-Saxon  Freedom").  It  was  in  England  that  we 
find  a  transit  of  power  from  the  one  to  the  few,  and  from 
the  few  to  the  many.  And  every  step  of  this  double 
process  can  be  clearly  traced  in  the  form  of  charters  and 
constitutions  which  admitted  the  people  to  a  share  in 
government  and  guaranteed  them  certain  privileges  be- 
fore the  law.  The  constitutional  history  of  England  is 
an  important  chapter  in  the  progress  of  democratic  gov- 
ernment. The  history  of  the  English  Parliament  epito- 
mizes the  history  of  England  from  the  primitive  German 
Assembly  to  the  modern  House  of  Commons.  From 
the  earliest  times  we  find  that  there  was  some  form  of 
representative  government.  And  "  never  was  the  govern- 
ment concentrated  in  the  hands  of  the  king  alone ;  under 
the  name  of  the  Wittenagemot,  of  the  Council  or  the 
Assembly  of  the  Barons,  and  after  the  reign  of  Henry 
III  of  the  Parliament,  a  more  or  less  numerous  and 
influential  assembly  composed  in  a  particular  manner,  was 
always  associated  with  the  sovereign"  (Guizot,  "Rep. 
Gov.,"  Par.  II,  Lec.  i).  There  were  times  when  this 
assembly  was  somewhat  subservient  to  despotism,  but 
withal  it  had  a  voice  in  the  government  and  represented 
the  mass  of  the  people.  When  men  are  able  to  think 
and  when  they  are  free  to  speak,  some  form  of  govern- 
ment is  only  a  question  of  time.  The  Great  Charter 
which  the  barons  wrested  from  King  John  contained 
some  provisions  which  had  wide  application,  and  which 
produced  far-reaching  results.  "  The  rights  which  the 
barons  claimed  for  themselves  they  claimed  for  the 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


121 


nation  at  large."  This  charter,  reaffirmed  at  various 
times  and  interpreted  anew  in  each  generation,  illustrates 
the  transit  of  power  from  the  few  to  the  many,  and 
marks  the  consciousness  that  is  growing  in  the  minds  of 
the  people. 

There  was  one  other  factor  that  had  some  influence 
upon  the  movement,  and  in  a  real  way  prepared  the  minds 
of  men  for  the  new  ideas.  This  factor  was  the  various 
guilds  and  associations  of  all  sorts  that  sprang  up  in 
Europe  all  through  the  Middle  Ages.  These  guilds  were 
of  various  kinds,  religious  and  social,  though  many  of 
them  seem  to  have  been  craft  guilds  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  term.  In  early  Roman  times  such  guilds  were  known, 
and  Plutarch  enumerates  nine  functions  that  they  per- 
formed ("  Encyc.  Brit.,"  "  Guilds  ").  Throughout  Europe 
during  all  the  Middle  Ages  these  guilds  flourished,  and 
they  did  much  to  develop  in  men  a  consciousness  of  kind 
and  to  efface  certain  artificial  distinctions.  The  great 
body  of  the  citizens,  in  many  places,  were  enrolled  in  these 
guilds,  and  as  their  position  and  wealth  improved  they 
sought  to  wrest  the  control  of  the  town's  resources  from 
the  patricians ;  thus  the  common  people  gained  a  new 
sense  of  humanity,  and  thus  they  made  their  voice  heard 
in  the  affairs  of  government  (Bax,  "  German  Society  of 
the  Middle  Ages,"  pp.  n,  210).  Through  membership  in 
these  guilds  men  ceased  to  be  mere  specimens  of  the  hu- 
man race,  and  became  instead  authorized  constituents  of 
human  society.  Thus  Lotze  is  justified  in  the  conclusion 
that  "  the  guild  marks  an  undoubted  advance  of  the 
human  race"  ("  Microcosmus,"  Vol.  II,  p.  230).  It  is 
possible  that,  when  the  full  story  of  democracy  is  told,  the 
contribution  of  these  guilds  will  not  be  an  insignificant 
one.  Perhaps  the  most  fateful  factors  in  the  whole  move- 
ment were  the  associations  that  were  formed  among  the 
peasants,  and  which  led  to  some  important  results. 


122 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Then  came  the  Renaissance,  in  some  respects  one 
of  the  most  splendid  and  prophetic  movements  of  the 
Christian  centuries.  For  two  hundred  years  and  more, 
now  here,  now  there,  we  find  many  stirrings  of  the  hu- 
man mind,  many  indications  that  man  is  about  to  awake 
to  a  new  life.  About  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
following  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  many  men  with  a 
wonderful  literature,  wandered  through  western  Europe 
to  sell  their  wares  and  to  become  teachers  of  the  nations. 
The  words  of  the  great  masters  of  old,  those  words  that 
burn  and  throb  with  a  passion  for  liberty  and  light,  found 
prepared  minds  everywhere  and  produced  marvelous 
results.  The  Renaissance  was  in  a  sense  a  revival  of 
learning,  but  it  was  much  more  than  this.  It  gave  men 
new  thoughts;  it  stirred  their  minds  and  filled  them  with 
questionings ;  it  awoke  in  them  new  aspirations  and 
turned  their  attention  to  wrongs  that  had  too  long  been 
neglected.  The  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  is  one 
of  the  great  creative  epochs  of  the  world's  life,  and  there 
is  hardly  an  age  that  can  compare  with  it.  This  brings  us 
to  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  with  the  world 
prepared  for  some  great  new  movements.  While  we 
nowhere  find  democracy  in  any  sense  of  the  word,  we 
yet  find  that  the  world  is  prepared  for  its  appearance, 
and  channels  are  grooved  in  which  the  new  streams  may 
run. 

II.  The  Rise  of  Modern  Democracy.  At  various  times 
and  by  various  men  efforts  have  been  made  to  trace  the 
beginnings  of  our  modern  democratic  ideas,  liberty, 
equality,  and  fraternity.  It  has  been  claimed  by  some  that 
these  great  ideas  have  been  created  by  skepticism  and 
unbelief,  and  consequently  that  we  must  find  their  origin 
in  such  men  as  Hobbes  and  Locke,  Rousseau  and  Paine. 
Discussion  of  this  position  is  not  needed,  were  there 
space.    Such  specialists  as  Borgeaud  and  Jellinek,  Oscar 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


123 


Straus  and  Professor  Ritchie,  all  agree  in  this,  "  that  the 
idea  of  legally  establishing  inalienable,  inherent,  and 
sacred  rights  of  the  individual  is  not  of  political, 
but  of  religious  origin  (Jellinek,  "  Rights  of  Man  and 
of  the  Citizen,"  p.  77).  The  "  Declaration  of  the  Rights 
of  Man  and  of  the  Citizen,"  by  the  French  Assembly 
in  1789,  it  is  sometimes  supposed,  is  but  the  formulated 
exposition  of  the  ideas  of  Rousseau  and  his  school.; 
But  Jellinek  has  shown  most  conclusively  that  the 
principles  of  the  "  Contrat  Social "  are  at  enmity  with 
every  declaration  of  rights,  and  consequently  that  we 
must  look  elsewhere,  even  to  America,  for  the  real  sources 
of  these  declarations.  For  the  high-sounding  phrases  of 
the  French  Declaration  are  "  for  the  most  part  copied 
from  the  American  Declaration  or  Bills  of  Rights,"  of 
Virginia  and  other  States  (Jellinek,  chap.  iii).  And  in 
America  the  ideas  that  find  expression  in  these  Decla- 
rations and  Bills  can  be  traced  back  in  an  unbroken  line 
to  the  great  ideas  of  the  Reformation.  In  thei  ..truest  f  </  v 
sense  of  the  term  modern  democracy  is  the  product  of 
the  Refonjy^ioii^aiid  it  cannot  be  understood  apart  from 
this  great  movement.  - 

The  Reformation,  viewed  from  every  point  of  view,  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  movements  of  all  the  ages. 
In  a  real  sense  it  was  a  movement  by  man  and  of  man,  a 
movement  that  has  its  causes  definite  and  definable,  a 
movement  that  can  be  described  and  followed  from  gen- 
eration to  generation.  And  yet  the  Reformation  in  a  no 
less  real  sense  is  a  movement  that  cannot  be  fully  ex- 
plained by  any  of  the  formulas  and  factors  known  to  man, 
and  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  signal  manifestations 
of  God.  DAubigne  shows  that  the  same  movement  was 
seen  everywhere,  and  that  many  of  these  movements  had 
no  human  connection  and  communication  of  any  kind. 
"  It  was  not  Germany  that  communicated  the  light  of 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


truth  to  Switzerland.  Switzerland  to  France,  and  France 
to  England ;  all  these  countries  received  it  from  God  .  .  . 
One  sole  and  same  doctrine  was  suddenly  established  in 
the  sixteenth  century  at  the  hearths  and  altars  of  the  most 
distant  and  dissimilar  nations ;  it  was  everywhere  the 
same  spirit,  everywhere  producing  the  same  faith " 
("History  of  the  Reformation."  Bk.  YIII.  chap.  i). 
This  illustrates  two  things  that  for  our  purpose  are  all- 
important :  an  atmosphere  has  been  created  in  which 
certain  great,  new  ideas  may  grow :  and  certain  great 
ideas  sown  in  the  minds  of  men  are  beginning  to  develop. 

There  were  many  causes  that  contributed  to  the  Refor- 
mation movement,  but  beyond  question  the  all-determin- 
ing factor  was  the  Christian  Scriptures,  which  were  found 
in  the  hands  of  men.  To  understand  this  movement,  to 
know  the  real  beginnings  of  democracy,  we  must  know 
how  it  came  about  that  the  Scriptures  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  people.  Since  the  time  of  Constantine  the 
power  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  had  grown  by 
leaps  and  bounds  until  by  the  time  of  Boniface  VIII  it 
claimed  dominion  over  all  human  affairs.  During  all  this 
time  the  Church  has  diverged  more  and  ever  more  widely 
from  the  apostolic  form,  until  it  lost  nearly  all  of  its 
original  character.  For  one  thing,  the  Church  became 
more  and  more  formal  and  institutional  and  gave  less  and 
less  attention  to  Scriptural  instruction  and  spiritual  func- 
tions. Not  only  so.  but  the  Church  became  allied  with 
the  civil  powers  and  aided  and  abetted  them  in  their 
tyrannous  treatment  of  the  people.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  various  revolts  against  the  corrupt  doc- 
trines and  oppressive  measures  of  Church  and  State 
should  appear  with  ever-growing  frequency  and  ever- 
increasing  boldness.  It  is  significant,  however,  that  nearly 
all  of  these  revolts  had  their  source  and  inspiration  in  the 
Scriptures  which  men  insisted  on  reading.    A  splendid 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY  125 

roll  of  heroes  are  the  leaders  of  these  revolts,  from  Peter 
of  Bruys  and  Arnold  da  Brescia,  with  Peter  Waldo  and 
John  Huss,  to  John  Wycliffe  and  Jerome  of  Prague. 
Through  the  zeal  of  Peter  Waldo,  one  of  the  morning 
stars  of  the  new  day,  the  Gospels  were  translated  into  the 
language  of  the  common  people,  and  the  long-lost  words 
of  Holy  Writ  were  studied  with  a  wonderful  activity. 
The  people  listened  to  Waldo  and  his  teachers,  and  turned 
away  from  the  Church  in  disgust  and  despair.  The 
Church  of  Rome,  through  its  alliance  with  the  State,  made 
a  determined  effort  to  exterminate  this  new  movement, 
and  the  story  of  that  persecution  is  one  of  the  blackest 
pages  of  all  history.  So  thoroughly  was  this  work  done, 
that  Sismondi  says :  "  Simon  stamped  out  not  only  a 
people,  but  a  literature."  But  though  the  fire  was  put  out 
in  the  Canton  of  Vaud,  yet  many  smoldering  brands  re- 
mained, and  these  were  scattered  all  over  central  Europe. 
The  forbidden  Book  made  its  silent  way  everywhere,  and 
everywhere  men  were  inspired  by  its  truths  to  new  ideas 
of  religious  and  social  life. 

In  1380  John  Wycliffe  finished  his  translation  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  then  went  to  his  quiet  grave  at  Lutter- 
worth. But  the  fire  that  he  had  lighted  blazed  ever  more 
and  more  brightly  and  aroused  the  fear  of  the  papal 
authorities.  Thirty  years  after  his  death  his  bones  were 
dragged  from  the  grave  to  be  burned  with  the  Bible  that 
he  had  loved  and  had  given  to  the  people.  Wycliffe's 
translation  was  known  in  Germany  and  was  studied  by 
many  men  who,  in  course  of  time,  became  reformers 
themselves.  Then,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  one  of  the  most  important  inventions  of  the  world 
was  given  to  men,  and  the  printing  press  was  set  to  work 
multiplying  copies  of  the  Scriptures.  It  is  prophetic  of 
many  things  to  come,  that  the  first  book — according  to 
tradition — to  issue  from  the  press  was  the  Bible  itself. 


126 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


It  was  translated  again  and  again,  and  all  through  Ger- 
many the  people  were  reading  the  Scriptures  in  their 
own  tongue.  In  course  of  time,  in  the  very  communities 
where  the  Waldenses  had  preached  and  the  Taborites  had 
suffered,  a  new  body  arose  with  the  Scriptures  in  hand 
to  continue  and  broaden  the  work  of  reform.  In  15 18, 
about  the  time  that  Luther  nailed  his  theses  to  the  church 
door  at  Wittenberg,  it  is  reckoned  that  there  were  four- 
teen complete  translations  of  the  Bible  in  High  German 
and  five  in  Low  German  in  general  circulation  ( Heath, 
"  Anabaptism,"  p.  13).  This  fact  explains  in  part,  at 
least,  how  it  happened  that  the  new  movement  seemed  to 
spring  into  life  in  a  hundred  places  at  once. 

There  is  one  other  factor  in  this  Reformation  movement 
that  is  all  important  for  our  study,  and  without  this  fac- 
tor before  us  the  Reformation  itself  cannot  be  understood 
either  in  its  sources  or  its  consequences.  The  Refor- 
mation was  not  primarily  theological,  but  social.  For 
long  years  the  peasants  in  all  parts  of  Europe  had  felt 
the  yoke  of  oppression  grow  heavier  and  heavier  upon 
their  necks.  In  course  of  time  this  yoke  became  simply 
unbearable,  and  here  and  there  the  people  rose  in  revolt. 
"  The  people,  bowed  down  by  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
oppression,  bound  in  many  countries  to  the  seignorial 
estates  and  transferred  from  hand  to  hand  along  with 
them,  threatened  to  rise  in  fury  and  at  last  to  break 
their  chains.  This  agitation  had  shown  itself  long  before 
the  Reformation  by  many  symptoms,  and  even  then  the 
religious  element  was  blended  with  the  political ;  in  the 
sixteenth  century  it  was  impossible  to  separate  these  two 
principles,  so  closely  associated  in  the  existence  of  nations. 
In  Holland,  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  century,  the 
peasants  had  revolted,  placing  on  their  banners  by  way 
of  arms,  a  loaf  and  a  cheese,  the  two  great  blessings  of 
the  people"  ("Historian's  History,"  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  259, 


THE   BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY  I27 

260).  In  Alsace  a  general  uprising  took  place,  and 
burghers  as  well  as  peasants  marched  side  by  side  under 
the  sign  of  the  Bundschuh,  a  peasant's  shoe  laced  from 
the  ankle  to  the  knee  with  leathern  thongs.  This  League 
of  the  Bundschuh  appeared  again  and  again  in  various 
parts  of  the  Rhine  country  making  everywhere  the  same 
demands.  In  many  lands  the  governments  rose  against 
these  disturbing  elements,  and  everywhere  these  peasants' 
revolts  were  quenched  in  torrents  of  blood.  But  while 
the  conflagration  was  suppressed,  many  brands  were  left 
smoldering  and  it  was  not  long  before  a  blaze  was  burning 
in  a  dozen  different  places.  It  had  become  very  evident 
that  a  political  and  social  revolution  was  needed  no  less 
than  a  religious  and  ecclesiastical  reformation,  and  it  was 
not  strange  that  such  a  movement  should  begin.  Thus 
all  the  various  lines  of  preparation  seem  to  converge  in 
the  early  decades  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  the 
Reformation,  so  called,  is  the  result.  The  Scriptures  are 
in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  these  are  studied  with  a 
wonderful  interest  as  being  the  very  word  of  God  to 
men.  The  great  mass  of  the  people  are  in  protest  against 
the  corruptions  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  are  in 
revolt  against  the  abuses  of  the  civil  power.  The  tinder  is 
prepared,  the  spark  is  struck,  and  the  Reformation 
follows. 

The  men  of  that  time,  with  the  Scriptures  in  hand,  and 
with  such  protests  in  their  hearts,  discover  or  re-discover 
certain  great  central  Christian  truths  that  were  all-potent 
in  their  meaning.  It  is  not  easy  for  us  of  to-day  to  under- 
stand how  these  truths  could  have  dropped  so  completely 
out  of  the  current  of  Christian  thought  and  life ;  but  the 
fact  remains  that  for  many  centuries  some  of  the  central 
truths  of  Christianity  were  almost  wholly  unknown.  It 
must  be  said,  however,  that  there  were  little  groups  of 
inquirers  and  mystics  here  and  there  who  cherished  some 


128 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


of  the  vital  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  Luther  himself 
acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  the  little  book  "  Theo- 
logica  Germanica,"  which  saw  the  light  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fourteenth  century.  But  with  it  all  the  great 
truths  of  the  Scriptures  came  to  men  almost  as  a  new 
revelation  from  heaven.  The  Reformation,  it  has  been 
said,  was  projected  on  two  great  lines  and  inspired  by  two 
great  ideas,  justification  by  faith,  and  the  priesthood  of  j 
all  believers.  The  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  gave 
man  a  new  conception  of  his  worth  and  made  him  see  that 
he  was  called  to  the  privilege  of  direct  access  to  God.  It 
was  his  privilege  to  stand  upon  his  feet,  with  the  light  of 
heaven  in  his  face,  and  to  call  himself  the  child  of  the 
Most  High.  The  truth  of  the  priesthood  of  believers 
abolished  all  the  false  distinctions  that  men  had  made,  and 
emphasized  the  equality  of  all  men  in  the  kingdom.  The 
words  of  the  Apostle  Peter :  "  Ye  are  a  royal  priesthood," 
with  other  texts  of  similar  import,  Luther  called  "  thun- 
derbolts of  God,  against  which  neither  all  the  Fathers, 
nor  all  the  councils,  though  they  were  innumerable,  nor 
all  the  world  combined,  shall  be  able  to  prevail."  These 
great  truths  carried  with  them  certain  corollaries,  and 
these,  in  a  way,  were  hardly  less  important  than  the 
propositions  themselves. 

It  is  true  that  these  great  truths  of  Christianity  were 
seen  from  different  angles  and  were  expressed  in  various 
terms,  but  none  the  less,  they  were  the  determining  ideas 
of  the  whole  movement.  In  the  hands  of  Luther  these 
ideas  were  developed  mainly  in  their  theological  bearings, 
and  this  was  a  work  that  needed  to  be  done.  He  came 
to  the  conviction  that  the  authority  in  man's  life  was 
within,  and  not  without,  the  soul,  and  he  held  that  "  every 
faithful  believer  in  Christ  was  superior  to  the  pope,  if 
he  could  show  better  proofs  and  grounds  of  his  belief  " 
(Kostlin,  "Life  of  Luther,"  p.  116).    He  developed  the 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


129 


doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  and  made  it  the  corner- 
stone of  a  theological  system  that  had  great  practical 
value  in  the  world.  In  the  hands  of  Calvin  these  ideas 
found  expression  in  various  theological  and  political 
forms  which  have  had  an  extraordinary  influence  upon 
human  thought. 

In  all  of  these  Christian  ideas  it  appears  that  man  is 
sacred,  that  he  holds  certain  relations  to  God  which  are 
neither  created  nor  affected  by  Church  or  State  action, 
that  there  are  certain  rights  and  prerogatives  that  belong 
to  him  by  nature,  that  these  rights  he  must  claim  and  this 
nature  he  must  fulfil,  and  that  whatever  institutions  may 
exist,  whether  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  must  recognize  these 
rights,  and  must  rest  upon  them.  These  ideas  may  have 
been  religious  in  their  origin,  but  by  their  very  nature 
they  must  be  political  in  their  application.  In  the  great 
truths  of  Scripture  men  found  not  only  religious  truth  and 
spiritual  food,  but  social  and  political  ideals  that  deter- 
mined the  whole  structure  of  their  ecclesiastical  and  social 
life.  These  great  ideas,  falling  upon  the  prepared  hearts 
of  men  in  the  sixteenth  century,  were  received  with  won- 
derful avidity,  and  were  affirmed  with  a  new  power. 
Given  such  ideas  in  religion,  and  democracy  in  the  State 
is  only  a  matter  of  time  and  application.  It  is  not  long 
before  we  find  men  beginning  to  apply  these  ideas  in 
various  directions  and  to  claim  rights  which  were  revo- 
lutionary. It  is  not  long  before  we  find  a  group  of  people, 
mainly  peasants,  dubbed  by  their  enemies  Anabaptists, 
who  are  cherishing  these  Christian  ideas  and  are  begin- 
ning to  put  them  into  practice.  In  1524  the  peasants  of 
Germany  issued  a  manifesto  in  Twelve  Articles  which,  in 
a  way,  voiced  the  new  spirit,  and  are  prophetic  of  great 
things  to  come.  These  articles,  it  is  now  pretty  definitely 
settled,  were  written  by  Balthasar  Hiibmaier ;  at  any  rate 
he  confessed  under  torture  at  Vienna,  in  1528,  that  he 
1 


130 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


had  revised  and  commented  on  these  articles  which  were 
sent  to  him  for  that  purpose  (Vedder,  "  Hiibmaier,"  p. 
96).  These  Twelve  Articles  are  to  be  ranked  among  the 
great  documents  of  the  ages,  and  they  are  worthy  of 
careful  study.  There  is  not  a  trace  of  fanaticism  in  them, 
and  they  are  in  accord  with  the  best  modern  religious  and 
democratic  principles.   Thus : 

Article  1.  Every  commune  has  the  right  to  choose  its  own 
pastor,  who  ought  to  teach  the  true  faith  without  human  additions. 

Article  2.  For  his  maintenance  let  there  be  a  tithe  on  corn, 
but  none  on  cattle. 

Article  3.  Every  man  being  redeemed  by  Christ's  blood  is  a 
Freeman.  We  are  therefore  free  and  will  be  free.  But  this  is 
no  reason  we  should  refuse  to  obey  magistrates. 

Article  5.  Woods  and  forests  taken  possession  of  by  any 
means  except  fair  purchase  must  be  returned  to  their  original 
owner,  the  commune. 

Article  9.   Justice  must  be  impartially  administered. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  his  career,  from  1517  to  1523, 
Luther  gave  expression  to  many  noble  sentiments  in  favor 
of  religious  liberty.  "  No  one  can  command  or  ought 
to  command  the  soul,  except  God,  who  alone  can  show  it 
the  way  to  heaven.  It  is  futile  to  compel  any  man's  be- 
lief. Heresy  is  a  spiritual  thing  which  no  iron  can  hew 
down,  no  fire  burn,  no  water  drown"  (Luther's  Tract, 
Von  Weltichen  Obrighcit).  These  new  ideas,  thrown  out 
among  the  people  with  great  boldness  and  force,  naturally 
produced  a  great  commotion,  and  it  is  not  strange  per- 
haps that  many  men  should  be  carried  off  their  feet. 

Among  the  peasants  these  ideas  spread  like  wildfire, 
and  by  these  people  they  were  given  a  much  wider  appli- 
cation than  Luther  himself  had  intended.  Thus  we  find 
that  the  words  of  the  Reformer,  harsh  and  defiant  as  they 
had  been  against  the  usurpations  of  the  Roman  Church, 
are  taken  up  by  the  people  and  turned  against  their  po- 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY  I3I 

litical  oppressors.  It  was  not  the  religious  movement 
that  gave  birth  to  the  political  agitations ;  but  in  many 
places  it  was  carried  away  by  their  impetuous  waves. 
Perhaps  we  should  even  go  farther  and  acknowledge  that 
the  movement  communicated  to  the  people  by  the  Refor- 
mation gave  fresh  strength  to  the  discontent  fermenting 
in  the  nation.  The  violence  of  Luther's  writings,  the  in- 
trepidity of  his  actions  and  language,  the  harsh  truths 
he  spoke,  not  only  to  the  pope  and  prelates,  but  also  to 
the  princes  themselves,  must  all  have  contributed  to  in- 
flame minds  that  were  already  in  a  state  of  excitement. 
Accordingly,  Erasmus  did  not  fail  to  tell  him :  "  We  are 
now  reaping  the  fruits  that  you  have  sown."  At  this  time 
the  reform  in  religion  was  received  with  joy,  both  by 
princes  and  by  people,  and  had  the  principles  of  the 
Reformation  been  limited  to  the  sphere  of  religion  alone, 
little  difficulty  might  have  arisen.  But  in  this  time  the 
reformation  in  political  and  social  matters  was  confined 
almost  wholly  to  the  peasants,  and  so  had  against  it  the 
most  powerful  part  of  the  nation.  In  all  parts  of  the  land, 
movements  of  one  kind  and  another  sprang  up  and 
aligned  men  in  different  parties.  Could  all  of  these  move- 
ments have  had  a  leadership  as  wise  as  the  one  under 
Hiibmaier  and  Denck  in  Swabia  and  Alsace,  the  story  of 
the  times  might  have  had  a  different  ending.  But  un- 
fortunately there  were  other  movements,  as  at  Miinster 
under  Miinzer  and  Pfeiffer,  that  awakened  the  fears  of 
men  and  caused  the  whole  movement  to  be  discredited.  In 
this  time  Luther's  feelings  underwent  a  terrible  conflict. 
Should  he  side  with  the  people  and  apply  the  principles  of 
the  gospel  to  political  wrongs?  But  to  do  that  would  be 
to  lose  the  support  of  the  princes.  Would  not  the  whole 
movement  fail  if  he  should  forfeit  the  favor  of  the  civil 
powers  ?  And  yet  the  cause  of  the  people  was  the  cause  of 
God,  and  there  were  great  wrongs  in  social  life. 


132 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


The  Reformer's  voice  that  had  been  so  potent  in  its 
protest  against  spiritual  tyranny  was  suddenly  hushed  on 
the  appearance  of  the  Anabaptists.  He  was  shocked  at 
some  of  the  excesses  he  saw,  and  was  fearful  lest  they 
should  check  the  progress  of  the  gospel.  To  him  these 
Anabaptists  threatened  disorder  and  anarchy,  and  he  be- 
lieved that  the  whole  cause  of  truth  was  in  danger.  Then 
he  hesitated  no  longer,  but  welcomed  the  strong  arm  of, 
the  civil  power  in  seeking  their  suppression.  He  in- 
veighed against  the  insurgents  with  all  the  energy  of  his 
being,  and  worse  than  all  he  roused  the  princes  to  draw 
the  sword  against  the  common  people.  One  wing  of  this 
movement  did  run  to  excesses  at  Miinster  and  elsewhere ; 
but  the  other  groups  of  peasants  were  moderate  and  Chris- 
tian in  their  demands,  and  one  of  these  was  the  move- 
ment under  Hiibmaier  and  Denck  whose  pronouncement 
we  have  noticed.  They  all  did  protest,  however,  against 
the  wrongs  endured  both  from  Church  and  State ;  they 
all  did  ask  that  their  rights  be  respected  and  their  liber- 
ties assured ;  they  did  affirm  that  democracy  in  religion 
meant  democracy  in  State,  and  in  a  way  they  sought  to 
make  their  belief  effective.  One  can  readily  see  that 
such  ideas  were  wholly  unacceptable  to  the  leaders  in 
Church  and  State,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  they  should 
unite  against  the  people. 

The  Reformation,  as  we  have  seen,  was  general  and  not 
local,  and  in  England  many  of  its  most  characteristic 
results  were  achieved.  The  Reformation,  we  have  also 
seen,  was  no  less  political  than  religious,  and  in  England 
both  of  these  struggles  went  on  side  by  side.  "  Episco- 
pacy was  abolished  by  the  Presbyterians;  monarchy  by 
the  Independents  "  (Borgeaud,  "  Rise  of  Modern  Democ- 
racy," p.  28).  Knox  and  Melville,  the  leaders  of  the 
Presbyterians,  brought  from  Geneva  the  system  of  Calvin, 
which  they  endeavored  to  establish  in  Scotland;  and 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


133 


Presbyterianism  is  Calvinism  tempered  by  the  aristo- 
cratic tendencies  of  Calvin  (Borgeaud,  ibid.,  p.  31).  The 
Presbyterians  did  much  to  break  the  power  of  Catholi- 
cism and  Episcopacy,  but  they  never  became  democrats  in 
any  sense  of  the  term.  ''  The  Independents  or  Congrega- 
tTonalists,  were  Puritans,  but  Puritans  of  an  essentially 
English  type,  and  they  went  much  farther  along  the  road 
toward  democracy  than  the  Presbyterians.  They  accepted 
Calvinism  as  a  system  of  doctrine,  but  rejected  it  as  a 
system  of  church  organization.  Independency,  or  as  it 
was  first  called,  Congregationalism,  is  Calvinism  without 
Calvin"  (Borgeaud,  ibid.,  pp.  30,  31). 

In  course  of  time  this  independent  movement  divari- 
cated, one  branch  fighting  for  liberty  in  England,  and  the 
other  seeking  its  fortunes  in  the  new  world.  At  home 
Cromwell  felt  the  need  of  men  whom  he  could  trust  in 
his  armies,  and  the  Independents  appealed  to  him  by  the 
enthusiasm  of  their  religion  and  the  purity  of  their  lives. 
By  degrees  the  army  became  the  stronghold  of  indepen- 
dency and  the  independent  party  was  able  to  control 
Parliament.  Then,  in  1648,  these  English  democrats  pro- 
claimed their  principles  in  a  manifesto  presented  to 
Parliament  for  adoption.  This  document,  entitled  "  An 
Agreement  of  the  People  of  England,"  lays  down  prin- 
ciples fully  democratic  in  nature ;  it  recognizes  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  people  and  the  toleration  of  all  forms  of 
Christianity ;  it  asks  for  the  suppression  of  State  inter- 
ference in  church  government,  and  provides  for  a  Consti- 
tution for  the  State  in  which  the  fundamental  laws  were 
embodied  and  defined  (Borgeaud,  "  Rise  of  Mod.  Dem.," 
p.  39).  This  document  was  in  reality  a  constitutional 
charter,  and  provided  for  a  purely  democratic  government 
in  the  best  sense  of  the  term.  But  for  some  reason  not 
fully  known  this  document  was  never  put  into  execution 
(Borgeaud,  ibid.,  chap.  ii).    Once  more  a  petition  was 


134 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


presented  to  Parliament,  January  20,  1649,  m  the  name  of 
the  army,  by  the  general-in-chief  and  his  council  of 
officers.  But  other  matters  engaged  the  attention  of 
Parliament — the  trial  of  the  king — and  action  on  the 
Agreement  was  put  off  for  a  more  convenient  season. 
This  more  convenient  season  never  came,  for  soon  the 
democratic  party  fell,  and  Cromwell  became  sole  dictator. 
Thus  the  principles  of  democracy  never  came  to  full  fruit- 
age in  England  (Jellinek,  "Rights  of  Man  and  of  the 
Citizen,"  pp.  62,  63). 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  number 
of  Independents  had  left  England  and  had  taken  refuge 
in  Holland.  In  course  of  time  they  formed  the  bold 
project  of  leaving  the  Old  World  and  crossing  the  sea 
where  they  might  find  refuge  and  freedom.  Finally,  a 
little  company,  one  hundred  and  two  souls  in  all,  on  Sep- 
tember 6,  1620,  set  sail  from  Delft  Haven  and  turned  their 
faces  toward  the  setting  sun.  Their  pastor,  John  Robin- 
son, gave  them  some  good  advice  which,  alas,  they  too 
soon  forgot.  When  nearing  the  shores  of  the  New  World 
they  drew  up  and  signed  a  document  that  must  be  ranked 
among  the  great  papers  of  the  human  race.  The  historian 
Bancroft  grows  eloquent  over  this  paper  and  says : 
] "  This  was  the  birth  of  popular  constitutional  liberty.  .  . 
In  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower  humanity  recovered  its 
rights  and  instituted  government  on  the  basis  of  equal 
laws  enacted  by  all  for  the  general  good  "  ("  History  of 
the  United  States,"  Vol.  I,  p.  207).  This  is  partially  true, 
but  it  is  not  by  any  means  all  of  the  truth.  For,  no 
sooner  were  these  men  landed  and  settled  than  they  re- 
fused to  accept  the  full  meaning  of  their  agreement  and  to 
accord  to  all  men  an  equal  share  in  the  government.  Other 
colonies  were  founded  in  due  time  by  the  Puritans  in 
Massachusetts  Bay,  but  in  none  did  democracy  become 
an  actual  experience. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


135 


This  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  one  man  to  whom 
the  modern  world  owes  the  full  development  of  the  demo- 
cratic idea.  Roger  Williams  must  forever  rank  as  one 
of  the  great  epoch-makers  of  the  world,  and  to  him  im- 
partial historians  accord  the  honor  of  being  Jhe  first 
democrat.  It  was  not  until  his  expulsion  from  Salem 
Colony  that  he  became  a  Baptist,  but  the  evidence  is  in- 
disputable that  he  had  long  been  a  Baptist  at  heart.  He 
had  spent  much  time  among  the  Baptists  of  England  and 
was  familiar  with  their  doctrines  and  writings.  No 
sooner  had  Williams  set  foot  in  America  than  he  found 
himself  in  conflict  with  the  authorities,  both  civil  and  re- 
ligious. He  found  a  strange  thing  existing:  "  It  was  not 
a  union  of  Church  and  State,"  says  Straus,  "  for  that 
signifies  some  equality  at  least  of  authority ;  but  it  was  a 
Church  dominating  the  State  and  using  it  as  an  instru- 
ment to  carry  out  its  will.  The  consequence  was  that 
every  civil  question  had  its  religious  bearing,  and  every 
religious  question  its  civil  bearing,  but  in  all  questions  the 
religious  aspect  preponderated"  (Straus,  "Roger  Will- 
iams," p.  20).  The  principle  of  soul  liberty  had  taken  pos- 
session of  Williams'  very  being,  and  he  was  not  willing 
to  have  his  conscience  ruled  by  any  magistrate.  He  could 
not  believe  that  a  man's  citizenship  in  the  State  should  be 
determined  by  his  subscription  to  a  church  creed,  and  as 
he  was  a  man  who  could  not  entertain  such  convictions  in 
silence  he  soon  fell  under  the  suspicion  of  the  theocratic 
authorities.  After  four  years  of  discussion  and  trouble 
Williams  was  banished  from  the  colony  by  the  peremptory 
orders  of  the  General  Court  as  a  disturber  of  the  peace. 
In  course  of  time  he  settled  in  what  was  afterward  known 
as  Rhode  Island,  in  a  place  which,  out  of  gratitude  to 
God,  he  named  Providence.  Williams  finally  went  back 
to  England,  and  having  the  powerful  aid  of  jSn^jlenry 
Vane,  he  secured  a  charter  in  which  democracy  is  first 


J36 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


made  a  corner-stone.  Among  the  provisions  of  the  cov- 
enant based  upon  this  charter  are  the  following: 

And  now  sith  our  charter  gives  us  powre  to  governe  ourselves 
and  such  others  as  come  among  us,  and  by  such  forme  of  civill 
government  as  by  the  voluntary  consente,  shall  be  found  most 
suitable  to  our  estate  and  condition, 

It  is  agreed,  by  this  present  Assembly  thus  incorporate,  and 
by  this  present  act  declared,  that  the  forme  of  government 
established  in  Providence  Plantations  is  Democraticall ;  that  is 
to  say  a  Government,  held  by  the  free  and  voluntary  consent  of 
all,  or  the  greater  part  of  the  free  inhabitants  (Borgeaud, 
"Rise  of  Modern  Democracy,"  pp.  160,  161). 

"  It  became  his  glory  to  found  a  State  upon  that 
principle,  and  to  stamp  himself  upon  its  rising  institu- 
tions, in  characters  so  deep  that  the  impress  has  remained 
to  the  present  day,  and  can  never  be  erased  without  the 
total  destruction  of  the  work.  .  .  He  was  the  first  man 
in  modern  Christendom  to  establish  civil  government  on 
the  doctrine  of  the  liberty  of  conscience,  the  equality  of 
opinions  before  the  law,  and  in  its  defense  he  was  the 
harbinger  of  Milton,  the  precursor  and  the  superior  of 
Jeremy  Taylor.  .  .  Let  then  the  name  of  Roger  Williams 
be  preserved  in  universal  history  as  one  who  advanced 
moral  and  political  science,  and  made  himself  a  bene- 
factor of  his  race  "  (Bancroft,  "  History  of  U.  S.,  Vol.  I, 
chap.  xv). 

III.  Democracy  at  Last  Appears.  From  what  has  been 
said  it  is  evident  that  modern  democracy  is  the  child  of 
the  Reformation.  It  is  also  evident  that  various  streams 
began  to  flow  in  many  places  at  once,  all  moving  in  the 
one  general  direction.  The  main  stream  of  this  new 
movement  we  may  trace  from  its  rise  among  the  Ana- 
baptists of  Germany,  through  the  Netherlands  to  Eng- 
land, and  from  England  to  the  Providence  Plantations. 
This  brings  us  to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


137 


with  the  democratic  idea  finding  recognition  in  the  Rhode 
Island  Colony. 

The  colony  of  Rhode  Island  was  destined  to  have  a 
marked  influence  upon  the  other  colonies;  and  yet  it 
must  be  confessed  that  for  a  time  this  influence  is  not 
easily  traced.  From  the  founding  of  the  colony,  for  a 
hundred  years  and  more,  the  course  of  democracy  seems 
to  have  made  little  progress  in  America,  and  the  Provi- 
dence Plantation  stands  almost  alone  in  its  democratic 
ideals.  That  the  soil  of  the  colonies,  however,  was  being 
prepared  for  the  democratic  ideal  is  plain  even  to  the  most 
cursory  observer.  The  colonists  who  came  to  America 
were  in  the  main  religious  and  civil  refugees,  men  too 
progressive  to  be  satisfied  with  conditions  in  the  home 
country,  and  men  too  much  in  love  with  liberty  to  bow 
the  servile  knee  at  the  command  of  king  or  prelate. 
Here,  in  the  New  World,  the  people  were  obliged  to  begin 
at  the  beginning  and  lay  foundations  for  a  new  political 
order.  The  settlers  were  in  the  main  farmers  living  far 
apart,  with  each  man  the  architect  of  his  own  fate  and 
fortune,  compelled  by  the  exigencies  of  the  case  to  de- 
pend largely  upon  his  own  initiative  and  judgment.  These 
settlers  were  accustomed  to  unite  for  mutual  defense 
against  the  Indians,  but  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of 
life  each  man  was  sufficient  unto  himself,  being  in  a 
large  sense  his  own  ruler  and  priest.  These  colonists 
were  in  the  main  men  with  strong  religious  convictions, 
dissenters  and  come-outers  of  one  kind  and  another,  men 
who  loved  truth  and  were  very  sure  of  God,  believing  in 
the  accountability  of  each  man  to  God,  and  cherishing 
the  highest  estimate  of  the  sacredness  of  each  man's 
personality.  Such  ideas  cherished  by  such  men  living  in 
such  conditions,  must  perforce  produce  extraordinary 
and  far-reaching  results. 

In  the  various  colonies,  each  with  its  own  type  of  re- 


I38  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

ligion  and  life,  we  find  that  the  government  is  approxi- 
mately democratic  in  spirit  if  not  in  form.  In  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania,  in  Virginia  and  New  York,  the  govern- 
ment is  practically  democratic  and  the  people  are  being 
trained  in  the  art  of  self-government.  From  the  found- 
ing of  the  Providence  Plantations  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  the  cause  of  democracy  seems  to  make 
little  progress ;  and  there  is  not  much  that  can  be  told. 
But  in  reality  the  great  democratic  ideas  are  working 
themselves  deep  into  the  very  life  of  the  people,  and  men 
are  slowly  coming  to  political  self-consciousness.  How 
soon  or  how  far  these  ideas  would  have  produced  their 
full  results,  without  some  opposition  that  forced  them  into 
the  foreground,  we  cannot  say ;  for  human  progress  is 
achieved  through  action  and  reaction  of  opposing  forces, 
and  human  ideas  are  shaped  and  defined  in  the  furnace 
of  antagonism  and  struggle.  But  at  any  rate  the  arbi- 
trary action  of  the  British  crown  furnished  this  very 
element  of  antagonism  and  forced  men  to  take  their  stand 
and  define  their  ideas.  In  1776  Virginia  adopted  a 
Declaration  of  Rights,  which  must  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  epoch-making  papers  of  the  world,  in  some  respects 
outranking  Magna  Charta  and  the  Mayflower  Compact. 
This  Declaration  of  Rights,  made  by  the  representatives 
of  the  good  people  of  Virginia,  assembled  in  full  and 
free  convention,  defined  and  asserted  certain  rights, 
which  rights  do  pertain  to  them  and  their  posterity, 
as  the  basis  and  foundation  of  government.  In  this 
remarkable  declaration  it  is  affirmed  that  all  men  are 
by  nature  equal,  free,  and  independent,  and  have  cer- 
tain inherent  rights  of  which,  when  they  enter  into  a 
state  of  society,  they  cannot  by  any  compact  deprive  or 
divest  their  posterity;  all  power  is  vested  in,  and  conse- 
quently derived  from  the  people;  that  magistrates  are 
their  trustees  and  servants,  and  at  all  times  amenable  to 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY  I39 

them;  that  government  is,  or  ought  to  be,  instituted  for 
the  common  benefit,  protection,  and  security  of  the  people, 
nation,  or  community ;  that  no  man,  or  set  of  men,  are 
entitled  to  exclusive  or  separate  emoluments  or  privi- 
leges from  the  community,  but  in  consideration  of  public 
services,  which  not  being  descendible,  neither  ought  the 
office  of  magistrate,  legislator,  or  judge  to  be  hereditary. 
This  declaration  was  adopted  June  twelfth,  thus  ante-| 
dating  by  nearly  a  month  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
signed  in  Philadelphia  by  representatives  of  all  the 
colonies. 

It  required  eight  years  of  struggle  and  sacrifice  for 
the  colonies  to  make  good  their  faith,  but  they  fought 
on  and  fought  out  the  war  to  its  successful  conclusion  at 
Yorktown.  Some  years  later  delegates  from  all  the 
States  met  at  Philadelphia  to  consider  the  present  condi- 
tion of  the  colonies  and  to  take  measures  for  their  future 
security.  In  the  debates  of  this  Convention  one  sees  that 
all  kinds  of  ideas  are  struggling  for  expression  and  su- 
premacy, but  with  it  all  a  constitution  is  framed  which 
Gladstone  has  declared  is  the  most  remarkable  docu- 
ment ever  produced  by  the  mind  of  man  in  a  given  time. 
In  this  constitution  certain  great  principles  of  democracy 
are  affirmed  and  are  made  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
land.  But  this  constitution,  remarkable  as  it  was,  many 
men  felt  was  defective  at  some  points ;  more  than  one 
patriot  denounced  it  for  its  monarchical  squint ;  and  many 
Baptists  protested  that  it  did  not  safeguard  their  rights 
and  privileges.  This  latter  defect  was  remedied  by  the 
adoption  of  the  first  amendment,  and  with  this  article 
modern  democracy  may  be  said  to  have  made  a  beginning. 

But  one  other  factor  remains  to  be  noticed  before  the 
story  is  fully  told.  In  the  Declaration  of  Rights  of 
Virginia,  as  well  as  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of 
the  Colonies,  there  are  many  high-sounding  phrases  about 


140 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


the  rights  of  men  and  the  freedom  of  all  by  nature ; 
but  the  fact  remains  that  these  phrases  must  be  taken 
with  a  qualification.  In  the  constitution  also  are  many 
provisions  guaranteeing  the  rights  of  men  and  providing 
for  the  privilege  of  the  franchise;  but  these  provisions 
also  must  be  taken  with  some  limitations.  For  it  appears 
that  neither  the  Declaration  of  Independence  nor  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  applied  to  the  man  with 
a  black  skin.  It  may  be  said  that  some  of  the  men  who 
framed  these  documents  did  not  regard  the  black  man 
as  a  brother;  and  it  must  be  said  also  that  some  of  the 
men  who  signed  these  documents  saw  how  illogical  was 
their  course  on  this  question.  But  the  problem  remained 
to  vex  the  nation  and  finally  to  become  the  occasion  of 
the  most  bloody  war  of  all  the  ages.  Then,  as  the  result 
of  this  war,  through  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword,  the 
new  right  is  defined  and  the  black  man  is  recognized  as  a 
human  being.  The  last  word  of  this  story  of  the  begin- 
nings of  democracy  is  written  in  the  new  amendment 
which  is  now  adopted,  Article  XV :  "  The  right  of  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or 
abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State,  on  account 
of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude." 

Summing  up,  we  find  several  things  that  may  be  noted. 
Thus  we  find  that  democracy,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
term,  as  a  principle,  and  not  merely  as  a  privilege,  is  a 
comparatively  recent  thing,  and  can  be  traced  back  to  its 
beginnings  in  the  Reformation  of  religion  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries.  That  is,  while  democracy  may 
have  been  more  or  less  a  fact  here  and  there  in  the  past, 
yet  democracy  as  a  principle  belongs  wholly  to  later  times. 
There  were  so-called  democracies  in  the  old  world,  but 
democracy  based  upon  simple  manhood  and  growing  out 
of  the  recognition  of  the  imprescriptible  rights  of  men 
cannot  be  traced  back  beyond  the  Reformation.  Again, 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


141 


it  is  in  the  great  truths  of  Christianity  that  we  must  find' 
the  real  fountain-head  of  the  new  streams  that  are  flow- 
ing through  the  world.  Many  of  the  ideas  of  the  gospel 
as  preached  by  the  reformers  were  developed  and  applied 
by  irreligious  thinkers  and  skeptical  writers,  but  the  fact 
is  writ  large  upon  the  page  of  history  that  the  real  fathers 
of  democracy  were  pronounced  Christian  men  (Fairbairn, 
"Religion  in  History  and  Modern  Life,  pp.  224,  225). 
And  the  other  fact  to  be  noted  is  this :  that  the  progress 
of  democracy  can  be  read  in  the  growing  recognition  of 
the  worth  of  man  and  the  removal  of  restrictions  of  one 
kind  and  another.  One  by  one  these  limitations  have 
been  swept  away — limitations  of  class,  of  religion,  of 
condition  and  color ;  and  thus  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  and  for  the  people  has  begun  to  appear. 


VII 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 

IN  these  latter  times  one  of  the  most  fateful  movements 
of  all  the  ages  is  gaining  direction  and  momentum. 
The  rank  and  file  of  the  people  are  more  and  more  deny- 
ing the  divine  right  of  kings,  not  only  to  govern  well  or 
ill,  but  to  govern  at  all,  and  they  are  claiming  that  all  just 
governments  rest  upon  the  consent  of  the  governed.  In 
view  of  this,  it  is  well  that  we  know  something  of  the 
forces  and  factors  that  give  power  and  direction  to  this 
movement.  For  by  knowing  the  things  that  make  for 
democracy  we  may  know  something  of  the  trend  of  this 
movement,  and  may  learn  something  of  its  prospects. 

The  past  four  centuries  have  witnessed  a  great  and  sig- 
nificant change  in  social  and  civil  affairs,  the  transit  and 
transfer  of  power  and  authority,  first  from  the  monarch 
to  an  aristocracy,  and  then  from  the  few  to  the  many. 
In  former  times,  when  the  king  failed,  as  he  often  did, 
there  were  the  few  nobles  to  act  as  a  last  resource,  to 
conserve  the  prerogatives  of  authority  and  to  uphold  the 
power  of  the  State.  But  in  these  times  the  right  of  both 
kings  and  nobles  is  questioned  and  denied,  and  all  these 
safeguards  are  removed.  Now  the  political  power,  in  the 
leading  nations  at  least,  is  lodged  with  the  people,  and  the 
last  reserves  are  called  into  the  field.  Thus,  democracy  is 
;  in  a  way  a  final  thing,  for  beyond  the  people  there  are  no 
reserves.  Many  things  indicate  that  the  age  of  kings  is 
passing  and  the  age  of  the  people  is  coming,  and  hence  the 
drift  toward  democracy.  In  a  large  sense  it  may  be  said 
that  the  progress  of  a  people,  its  degree  of  political  de- 
142 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 


143 


velopment,  its  growing  consciousness  of  social  brother- 
hood, is  measured  by  the  place  which  the  people  them- 
selves occupy  in  the  affairs  of  government.  The  race  is 
gaining  what  has  been  called  the  sense  of  humanity,  and 
men  are  coming  to  social  self-consciousness.  Men  are 
growing  into  the  consciousness  of  human  brotherhood 
and  are  beginning  to  revalue  the  life  of  the  common  man. 
And  this  is  the  inner  spirit  and  moving  power  of  de- 
mocracy. Many  things  indicate  that  the  drift  toward 
democracy  is  as  inevitable  as  gravitation  and  as  certain  as 
the  daybreak.    We  mention  a  few  of  these : 

I.  The  Growing  Conception  of  Human  Brotherhood. 
It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  conception  of  human  brother- 
hood was  first  brought  into  the  world  by  the  Son  of  man ; 
but  this  is  not  strictly  the  case.  There  were  adumbra- 
tions of  this  great  truth  in  the  life  and  teaching  of  many 
men  before  the  Christian  era.  And  yet  it  was  the  Son  of 
man  who  brought  this  great  truth  out  into  the  daylight 
and  made  it  the  possession  of  the  whole  human  race. 

We  find  a  few  adumbrations  of  the  truth  of  human 
brotherhood  in  Greece  and  Rome,  in  Persia  and  China, 
and  these,  though  faint,  are  worthy  of  careful  study.  Thus 
Plutarch  records  the  saying  of  Alexander  "  that  God  is  the 
common  father  of  men,  but  more  particularly  of  the  good 
and  virtuous"  (Plutarch,  "Lives":  Alexander).  And 
Xenophon  states  that  Cyrus,  wjien  dying,  charged  his  son 
to  have  regard  for  the  good  of  the  human  race  (Xeno- 
phon, "  Cyropsedia  ").  In  Rome  we  find  an  approxima- 
tion to  this  idea  in  the  teaching  of  the  philosophers  mainly 
of  the  Stoic  school.  Thus  Cicero  declares  that  "  the 
whole  world  should  be  considered  as  one  State,  the  com- 
mon home  of  gods  and  men ;  by  nature  we  incline  to  love 
men,  which  fact  is  the  foundation  of  law.  A  wise  man 
does  not  regard  himself  as  the  inhabitant  of  any  one  place, 
but  as  a  citizen  of  the  whole  world,  counting  it  but  one 


144  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

city  "  ("  De  Legibus,"  Bk.  I).  In  his  "  De  Officiis  "  he 
is  even  more  explicit,  declaring  his  belief  in  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man.  But  this  was  a  kind  of  amiable  and 
abstract  philosophy  which  the  writer  himself  never 
thought  of  putting  into  practice.  In  Epictetus  there 
is  a  much  clearer  vision  of  the  truth,  and  this  man  is  feel- 
ing his  way  toward  the  light.  He  speaks  of  the  master 
who  is  angry  with  his  slave  because  he  has  misunderstood) 
his  orders,  and  is  about  to  beat  him.  "  Slave  yourself, 
will  you  not  bear  with  your  own  brother  who  has  Zeus 
for  his  progenitor,  and  is  like  a  son  of  the  same  seed, 
and  of  the  same  descent  from  above?  .  .  .  Will  you  not  re- 
member who  you  are  and  whom  you  rule,  that  they  are 
kinsmen,  that  they  are  brethren  by  nature,  that  they  are 
the  offspring  of  Zeus?"  ("Epictetus,"  Bk.  I,  chap.  13.) 
In  China,  Confucius  confesses  that  the  good  man  loves 
all  within  the  four  seas  as  his  brothers,  but  the  sage  limits 
this  brotherhood  to  his  own  people.  The  idea  of  brother- 
hood in  a  narrow  and  partial  sense,  had  taken  hold  of 
the  best  and  noblest  souls  in  antiquity,  and  no  man  can 
say  when  the  idea  first  found  its  way  into  human  thought. 
And  this  is  precisely  what  we  might  expect  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  God  loves  all  men  and  is  ever  seeking  his 
own.  It  was  a  favorite  saying  of  some  of  the  early  church 
fathers,  as  Origen,  and  Augustine  in  his  "  Retractations," 
that  Christianity  was  as  old  as  creation,  and  they  endeav- 
ored not  in  vain  to  find  traces  of  Christianity  before 
Christ. 

Among  the  Jews  we  find  a  partial  approximation  to  this 
great  idea  of  human  brotherhood,  with  its  application  in 
human  equality.  The  Jews  all  traced  their  descent  from 
Abraham,  the  father  of  the  people,  and  thus  they  cher- 
ished the  idea  of  brotherhood  within  national  lines.  In 
later  times  we  find  that  the  conception  of  the  divine 
Fatherhood  is  growing  in  clearness  and  power,  and  here 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 


145 


and  there  it  finds  a  voice  in  the  words  of  a  prophet.  But 
not  until  we  come  to  the  later  times  and  to  Jesus  Christ 
do  we  behold  this  truth  in  all  its  scope.  Many  writers, 
it  is  true,  have  shown  that  many  of  the  moral  precepts  and 
spiritual  ideas  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  can  be  met  and 
matched  in  the  early  writers  of  the  world.  Be  it  so: 
yet  it  was  the  Son  of  man  who  first  made  these  ideas  cur- 
rent coin;  he  was  the  first  to  translate  these  ideas  into 
life,  and  give  them  spiritual  force ;  he  it  was  "  who 
wrought  with  human  hands  the  creed  of  creeds,"  and 
gave  that  creed  its  vital  power. 

One  or  two  elements  in  his  life  and  teaching  may  be 
noted.  For  one  thing  his  manner  of  life  and  his  station 
in  society  are  revelations  of  some  great  truth  of  God  and 
man.  This  One,  whom  men  have  agreed  to  call  the  Son 
of  God,  who  came  from  God  and  went  to  God,  lived  a 
lowly  life  among  the  children  of  men.  All  his  life  he 
lived  as  a  man  among  men  making  no  differences  of  any 
kind  in  his  attitude  toward  men,  and  never  recognizing 
any  of  the  distinctions  of  the  society  of  his  day.  He 
grew  up  in  little  humble  Nazareth,  and  was  content  to 
be  known  as  the  carpenter's  son.  He  chose  his  disciples 
from  the  various  walks  of  life  with  the  most  complete 
indifference  to  all  the  conventionalities  of  society.  He, 
the  Son  of  God,  lived  as  the  Son  of  man,  allowing  noth- 
ing to  separate  him  from  his  fellows,  and  claiming  kin- 
ship with  all  mankind. 

Not  only  so,  but  he  lived  in  the  full  consciousness  of 
the  divine  Fatherhood  and  his  own  Sonship,  and  this  con- 
sciousness determined  his  whole  life  and  thought.  His 
first  recorded  words  breathe  the  name  of  Father,  and 
upon  the  cross  he  stays  his  soul  upon  this  same  blessed 
name.  So  full  and  potent  is  this  consciousness  in  his 
life  that  it  colors  all  his  thought  and  determines  all  his 
teaching. 

K 


146 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


His  one  name  for  God  is  Father,  and  everything  he 
said  must  be  construed  in  the  categories  of  that  name. 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  has  been  called  the 
Magna  Charta  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  has,  as  its  great 
idea  and  fundamental  basis,  its  regulative  idea  and  its 
ruling  note,  this  conception  of  divine  Fatherhood  and 
human  brotherhood.  In  the  hearing  of  the  people  he 
charges  men  to  "  call  no  man  father  on  the  earth ;  for  one 
is  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  Neither  be  ye  called 
masters ;  for  one  is  your  Master,  even  the  Christ " 
(Matt.  23  :  9,  10).  The  sweep  and  significance  of  these 
words  we  have  hardly  begun  as  yet  to  see.  But  we  have 
here  the  doctrine  of  human  brotherhood  set  forth  in  the 
most  unequivocal  terms,  and  with  the  most  unlimited  ap- 
plication. The  fact  is,  the  Magna  Charta,  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  the  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of 
the  Man  and  the  Citizen,  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipa- 
tion, are  all  implied  here,  and  are  only  a  matter  of 
definition. 

Growing  out  of  all  this  there  is  another  element  that  has 
special  significance  for  our  purpose,  and  that  is  the  worth 
of  the  human  soul.  In  that  Old  World  men  set  a  very 
slight  value  upon  the  soul  of  the  common  man.  Men  be- 
lieved, indeed,  that  some  souls  had  value,  the  souls  of  the 
great  and  the  rich,  the  soul  of  the  king  and  the  priest, 
but  it  never  entered  into  the  thought  of  man  that  the  soul 
of  the  common  man,  the  slave,  the  peasant,  the  unlearned, 
had  any  real  and  intrinsic  worth.  But  Jesus  taught  the 
world  to  believe  in  the  worth  of  man,  the  common  man, 
the  child,  the  woman,  the  outcast,  the  no-caste,  the  publi- 
can, the  sinner.  In  fact,  it  is  far  within  the  truth  to  say 
that  this  was  his  supreme  and  immortal  discovery.  He 
does  not  say  very  much  directly  upon  this  high  theme, 
but  this  truth  runs  as  a  golden  thread  through  all  his 
teaching  and  appears  as  the  moving  impulse  of  his  life. 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 


147 


He  assumes  that  the  best  things  of  life  are  for  all  men, 
whatever  may  be  their  station  or  previous  condition ;  then 
he  seeks  to  bring  all  men  into  the  possession  and  appreci- 
ation of  these  good  things.  Thus  it  is  that  Jesus  marks 
the  transition  from  the  old  to  the  new,  from  the  old  age 
to  the  new  time. 

These  great  ideas  of  Jesus  were  no  doubt  slow  in  get- 
ting themselves  inwrought  into  the  life  and  thought  of 
the  world,  but  they  are  all  implicit  in  Christianity,  and 
soon  or  late  they  must  become  explicit  and  potent.  The 
great  ideas  of  Christianity  as  illustrated  in  the  life  and 
teaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  interpreted  by  the  life  and 
order  of  the  early  church,  led  by  a  straight  course  to 
democracy  in  government.  So  long  as  Christianity  abides, 
so  long  as  its  central  ideas  are  cherished  by  men,  so  long 
autocracies  of  all  kinds  are  "hallenged  and  democracy  is 
only  a  question  of  application.  The  great  ideas  of 
Christianity,  when  fully  understood  and  faithfully  prac- 
tised, must  lead  by  an  inevitable  logic  to  the  democracy 
of  all  life.  Where  the  Christianity  of  Christ  is  known 
and  honored,  democracy  is  only  a  question  of  time  and 
definition. 

The  whole  meaning  of  Christianity  is  spelled  out  in 
democracy,  and  the  whole  vitality  of  Christianity  is  im- 
plicated in  the  democratic  movement.  However  it  may 
be  with  any  other  factors  that  may  be  named,  as  con- 
tributing to  the  democratic  drift,  it  is  certain  that  the 
Christian  idea  is  a  pledge  and  prophecy  of  ultimate  de- 
mocracy. While  it  is  true  that  Christianity  is  not  pri- 
marily concerned  with  forms  of  government,  it  is  yet 
true  that  it  must  create  a  form  that  shall  express  its 
essential  spirit.  While  it  is  also  true  that  Christianity 
has  no  commission  to  change  one  form  of  government 
for  another,  it  yet  remains  true  that  it  is  inherently  a 
democratic  religion.   It  began  among  the  common  people, 


148 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


and  has  as  its  Founder  one  who  toiled  at  the  carpenter's 
bench.  It  comes  to  men  with  the  central  truth  of  the 
Fatherhood  of  God,  which  carries  with  it  the  correlated 
truth  of  the  brotherhood  of  man.  Thus  the  democratic 
idea  is  woven  into  the  very  warp  and  woof  of  Christianity, 
and  no  papal  ingenuity  or  imperial  authority  can  tear  it 
out  without  destroying  the  whole  fabric.  The  great  ideas 
of  the  gospel  have  given  birth  to  this  modern  democratic 
movement,  and  they  are  the  potent  forces  that  are  be- 
hind this  drift.  Not  until  these  Christian  ideas  become 
old  and  effete  and  are  cast  aside  forever  will  the  struggle 
in  behalf  of  democracy  cease.  So  long  as  these  ideas 
remain  as  the  common  inheritance  of  man,  that  long  will 
this  democratic  movement  continue. 

II.  The  Growing  Dominance  of  the  Democratic  Idea 
in  Literature.  In  his  lectures  on  "  Heroes  and  Hero 
Worship,"  Carlyle  accords  a  high  place  to  the  man  of 
letters,  and  assigns  him  a  most  potent  function  in  social 
progress.  He  quotes  with  approval  the  saying  of  Fichte, 
that  the  man  of  letters  is  a  prophet,  or,  as  he  prefers  to 
phrase  it,  a  priest,  continually  unfolding  the  godlike  to 
men.  Men  of  letters  are  a  perpetual  priesthood,  from  age 
to  age  teaching  all  men  that  a  God  is  still  present  in 
their  life.  With  prophetic  insight  they  enter  into  that 
purpose  which  God  is  working  out  in  our  humanity,  and 
like  a  true  guide  they  show  men  the  way  in  which  they 
should  direct  their  march.  In  all  times  the  poet  and  the 
writer,  the  seer  and  the  sayer,  have  been  held  in  high 
honor  and  have  fulfilled  an  important  function  in  human 
society.  With  the  coming  of  Christianity  into  the  world 
there  have  been  given  to  man  some  great,  vital,  and 
vitalizing  ideas,  and  these  have  slowly  made  their  way 
among  men.  The  men  of  letters,  the  prophets  and  priests 
of  humanity,  have  more  and  more  entered  into  these  ideas, 
and  have  sought  to  interpret  and  enforce  their  meaning. 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 


149 


We  can  do  no  more  than  suggest  a  few  items  in  this  story 
of  the  democratic  idea  in  English  literature,  and  refer 
any  person  who  is  interested  in  this  subject  to  the  illumi- 
nating volumes  of  Professor  Vida  Scudder  on  "  The  Life 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  Modern  English  Poets,"  and  "  Social 
Ideals  in  English  Letters." 

Democracy,  we  are  told,  entered  Great  Britain  with  the 
church  of  Christ  (Scudder,  "Social  Ideals,"  p.  7).  But 
the  great  ideas  of  Christianity  make  their  way  very 
slowly,  and  it  is  centuries  before  they  find  even  an  ap- 
proximate expression.  In  course  of  time,  however,  these 
ideas  make  their  power  felt,  and  in  the  lapse  of  genera- 
tions they  find  self-expression  among  the  people.  The 
Middle  Ages  were  dying  and  a  new  age  is  in  the  birth- 
throes.  It  was  a  time  of  social  change  and  upheaval,  and 
men  are  everywhere  groping  for  the  light.  The  people 
are  coming  to  self-consciousness,  and  are  seeking  self- 
expression.  Two  great  poets  belong  to  this  time,  Lang- 
land  and  Chaucer,  but  only  one  of  these  has  special  sig- 
nificance for  our  theme. 

The  poem  of  Langland,  "  The  Vision  of  Piers  the 
Plowman,"  belongs  to  one  of  the  saddest  periods  of 
English  history.  In  it  the  very  heart-cries  of  the  English 
people  find  expression,  and  throbbing  through  it  are  some 
great  new  aspirations  which  are  truly  prophetic.  The 
ruling  motif  of  the  poem  is  indicative  of  the  new  thought 
that  is  finding  its  way  among  the  people.  Men  are  in  sor- 
row and  distress,  they  are  oppressed  and  wronged,  they 
are  scattered  and  torn,  with  no  one  to  help  and  deliver. 
Piers  feels  that  this  cannot  be  God's  will  for  men,  and  so 
he  looks  for  help  to  the  priest  and  the  knight ;  and  at  last, 
when  these  fail,  he  himself  becomes  the  deliverer  of  the 
people.  Toward  the  close  the  plowman  seems  to  disap- 
pear, and  in  his  stead  we  see  one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man. 
The  dreamer  is  in  church,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  mass 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


he  suddenly  sleeps,  and  beholds  in  vision  Piers  the  plow- 
man coming  in  with  a  cross  before  the  common  people, 
marked  with  bloody  wounds,  and  "  like  in  all  limbs  to  our 
Lord  Jesus."  "  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  by 
this  extraordinary  image  Langland  meant  exactly  to  iden- 
tify Piers  with  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  To  him  the 
working  man  is  simply  the  best  embodiment  of  the  Chris- 
tian idea"  (Scudder,  "Social  Ideals,"  p.  36).  Thus, 
under  the  figure  of  the  peasant,  in  his  sufferings  and 
humiliation,  Christ  appears  as  the  friend  of  the  people 
and  the  Great  Emancipator : 

For  our  joy  and  our  health  Jesus  Christ  of  heaven, 

In  a  poor  man's  apparel  pursueth  us  ever, 

And  looketh  upon  us  in  the  likeness  and  that  with  lovely  cheer, 

To  know  us  by  our  kind  heart  and  casting  our  eyes 

Whether  we  love  the  Lord  here  before  our  Lord  in  bliss. 

For  we  are  all  Christ's  creatures,  and  of  his  coffers  rich 

And  brethren  as  of  one  blood,  as  well  beggars  as  earls. 

For  nearly  four  centuries  English  poetry  has  no  suc- 
cessor to  "  Piers  the  Plowman,"  though  there  were  great 
poets  who  used  the  language.  Shakespeare,  universal 
genius  as  he  was,  had  little  of  the  seer's  vision,  and  can- 
not be  called  a  prophet  of  the  social  gospel.  Milton  the 
poet  sings  "  his  deathless  unfathomable  song  "  of  para- 
dise and  hell,  but  in  his  poetry  he  shows  little  interest  in 
the  struggles  of  the  people  for  political  emancipation. 
But  Milton  the  prose  writer  speaks  some  of  the  bravest 
and  boldest  words  in  protest  against  tyranny  and  in- 
equality, and  in  favor  of  liberty  and  democracy.  About 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  several  writers  ap- 
peared whose  words  were  carried  far  and  wide,  and 
produced  vast  results.  Rousseau  was  not  a  great  man, 
measured  by  any  of  the  standards  of  true  greatness, 
but  his  influence  has  been  most  marked,  not  alone  in 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY  151 

France,  but  in  England  as  well.  There  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  both  Burns  and  Shelley  were  familiar  with  his 
writings,  and,  as  some  one  has  said,  it  is  not  every 
mediocre  writer  of  prose  who  is  honored  by  having  his 
words  set  to  music  by  such  a  poet  as  Burns. 

During  the  later  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
new  ideas  found  expression  in  the  songs  of  several  poets, 
but  first  among  these  must  be  named  the  Ayrshire  plow- 
man. Through  all  the  poems  and  songs  of  Burns  there 
breathes  a  vast  contempt  for  pretense  and  sham,  and 
scorn  for  the  belted  knight  and  the  self-important  squire. 
Through  all  his  words  there  runs  the  one  clear  note  of 
equality  and  brotherhood.  These  prophetic  lines  throb 
with  a  passion  for  fraternity  among  all : 

What  though  on  hamely  fare  we  dine, 

Wear  hodden  gray,  and  a'  that; 
Gie  fools  their  silks,  and  knaves  their  wine, 

A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that. 
For  a'  that  and  a'  that, 

Their  tinsel  show,  and  a'  that; 
The  honest  man,  though  e'er  sae  poor, 

Is  king  of  men,  for  a'  that. 

Then  let  us  pray,  that  come  it  may — 

As  come  it  will,  for  a'  that — 
That  sense  and  worth,  o'er  all  the  earth, 

May  bear  the  gree,  and  a'  that; 
For  a'  that  and  a'  that 

It's  comin'  yet,  for  a'  that, 
That  man  to  man,  the  warld  o'er, 

Shall  brothers  be  for  a'  that. 

The  heroes  of  Burns  are  plain,  simple  folk,  like  the 
rest  of  us,  farmers  and  mechanics,  men  who  honor  their 
manhood  and  have  scant  regard  for  "  dignities  and  a' 
that."  No  man  had  a  higher  love  for  honesty  and  sin- 
cerity, with  independence  and  worth,  and  no  man  brings 
us  nearer  to  the  great  heart  of  humanity.   In  Edinburgh, 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


nearly  a  hundred  years  after  his  death,  working  men  going 
home  from  work  have  begged  for  a  sight  of  his  statue, 
and  then  have  turned  home  with  a  tear  in  the  eye  and  a 
deeper  respect  for  their  manhood. 

With  the  coming  of  the  nineteenth  century  we  find  a 
group  of  poets  who  may  be  called  almost  by  preeminence 
the  poets  of  democracy.  Beginning  with  Wordsworth 
and  Shelley  we  have  a  pretty  unbroken  succession  down 
to  the  present  day,  in  both  England  and  America,  in 
Tennyson  and  Browning,  in  Lowell  and  Whittier,  in 
Arnold  and  Whitman.  To  these  men,  with  many  other 
minor  poets  may  be  given  the  high  honor  of  being  called 
the  poets  of  the  people  and  the  prophets  of  democracy. 
In  his  earlier  years  Wordsworth's  faith  in  the  new  de- 
mocracy gives  his  poems  their  highest  aspirations  and 
their  fullest  power;  in  fact,  it  may  be  said  that  Words- 
worth did  not  enter  upon  his  poetic  career  till  he  had  won 
his  way  to  this  new  and  splendid  faith.  All  through  his 
life  he  clung  to  the  belief  that  "  in  God's  pure  sight " 
monarch  and  peasant  are  equal.  All  through  his  life  he 
belonged — to  use  Lincoln's  fine  phrase — to  the  plain 
people,  and  he  not  only  believed  in  poverty,  but  he  prac- 
tised it  (Scudder,  "The  Life  of  the  Spirit,"  p.  75). 
He  asked  that  education  be  made  general  that  all  might 
have  a  fair  chance  for  the  best  things  in  life ;  he  had  noth- 
ing but  scorn  for  a  social  system  that  allowed  men  to  be 
robbed  of  their  birthright,  and  this  was  done  wherever 
men  were  made  the  means  and  money  the  end.  All  his 
life  he  sorrowed  at 

The  injustice  which  hath  made 
So  wide  a  barrier  between  man  and  man. 

Shelley  was  a  younger  contemporary  of  Wordsworth, 
but  he  went  far  beyond  his  predecessor  in  his  protest 
against  tyranny  and  his  passion  for  liberty.  His  passion 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 


iS3 


was  even  more  vehement  than  Wordsworth's,  though  it 
must  be  confessed  it  was  also  less  sane  and  balanced. 
The  love  of  liberty  and  the  hope  of  democracy  glowed 
luminous  and  entrancing  before  the  sensitive  soul  of  the 
poet,  and  inspired  some  of  his  finest  and  greatest  work. 
Through  his  "  Prometheus  Unbound  "  there  rings  a  new 
and  modern  cry : 

I  would  fain 
Be  what  it  is  my  destiny  to  be, 
The  savior  and  the  strength  of  suffering  man, 
Or  sink  into  the  original  gulf  of  things. — Act  I. 

Shelley  went  so  far  in  his  hatred  of  tyranny  that  he 
almost  despises  all  government,  and  so  comes  dangerously 
near  to  the  praise  of  anarchy.  With  piercing  insight  his 
thought  finds  its  way  into  the  evils  and  wrongs  of  the 
systems  of  his  day,  yet  he  can  see  no  way  out  except  by 
the  destruction  of  all  governmental  order  and  ecclesi- 
astical institutions. 

Tennyson  and  Browning,  in  a  sense,  belong  to  the  same 
school  of  thought,  and  both  are  prophets  of  the  age  that 
is  to  be.  Yet  never  were  there  two  men  more  unlike,  and 
in  a  way  also  more  unlike  their  forerunners.  Tennyson, 
as  did  Browning,  struck  many  notes,  and  compassed 
nearly  the  whole  gamut  of  human  experience.  In  a  way 
he  was  always  an  aristocrat,  though  he  would  have  said 
that  it  was  a  government  of  the  best  that  he  desired  and 
not  a  government  by  birth  and  rank  alone. 

In  Locksley  Hall  we  hear  this  well-founded  and 
vehement  note  of  protest: 

Cursed  be  the  social  wants  that  sin  against  the  strength  of  youth ! 
Cursed  be  the  social  lies  that  warp  us  from  the  living  truth ! 

Cursed  be  the  sickly  forms  that  err  from  honest  nature's  rule ! 
Cursed  be  the  gold  that  gilds  the  straiten'd  forehead  of  the  fool ! 


154 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Later  on  in  the  poem  he  passes  from  negative  protests 
to  positive  hopes,  and  now  he  sings  of  the  time  when 

The  war  drum  throbb"d  no  longer,  and  the  battle-flags  were  furl'd, 
In  the  Parliament  of  man,  the  Federation  of  the  world. 

But  in  Browning  the  century  comes  to  its  fullest  self- 
consciousness  and  self-expression.  Browning,  of  all  the 
poets  of  the  century,  may  be  called  by  easy  preeminence, 
the  prophet  of  man.  Persons  of  all  classes  and  ranks,  of  all 
ages  and  characters,  move  across  his  pages  and  play  their 
little  part,  and  moral  worth  is  not  by  any  means  confined 
to  any  class  or  condition.  The  poet  does  not  attempt  to 
construct  a  philosophy  of  life ;  rather  he  shows  us  human 
life  from  all  sides  and  angles,  and  allows  us  to  draw  our 
own  conclusions.  But  no  one  can  long  read  his  virile  lines 
without  finding  that  he  has  an  unchanging  hatred  of 
shams  and  delusions,  and  that  he  has  a  burning  passion 
for  human  brotherhood  and  equality. 

The  other  poets  that  are  named,  Lowell,  Whittier, 
Emerson,  and  Whitman,  in  their  verse  reflect  something 
of  the  life  and  passion  and  liberty  of  the  New  World. 
In  a  very  true  sense  these  four  may  all  be  called  the 
poets  of  human  brotherhood  and  the  prophets  of  de- 
mocracy. Never  do  they  strike  their  highest  notes  till 
they  are  protesting  against  human  injustice  of  some  kind 
and  are  pleading  for  liberty  for  all  mankind.  Then  their 
words  glow  and  throb  with  the  fire  and  force  and  passion 
of  a  Hebrew  prophet,  and  we  are  moved  in  spite  of  our- 
selves. Where  so  many  of  their  poems  are  filled  with  this 
new  spirit  it  is  needless  to  specify  examples.  They  all 
kept  their  early  faith  undimmed  to  the  very  end  of  life,  and 
never  wavered  in  their  allegiance  to  the  people's  cause. 
Lowell's  "  Three  Memorial  Poems  "  are  in  full  harmony 
with  "  The  Present  Crisis,"  "  On  the  Capture  of  Fugitive 
Slaves,"  and  "  The  Search."  Whittier's  "  Voices  of  Free- 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 


155 


dom  "  still  throb  with  their  early  fire,  and  no  one  can  read 
these  words  unmoved.  In  democracy  the  poet  confesses 
his  abiding  faith  in  the  ideal  of  his  boyhood's  time,  and 
sees  in  it  the 

Bearer  of  freedom's  holy  light, 
Breaker  of  Slavery's  chain  and  rod ; 
The  foe  of  all  which  pains  the  sight, 
Or  wounds  the  generous  ear  of  God. 

Emerson  is  no  less  pronounced  in  his  love  of  freedom, 
and  on  this  high  theme  his  words  gain  a  new  fire  and 
passion.  No  one  can  easily  forget  those  words  read  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  Boston: 

The  word  of  the  Lord  by  night 

To  the  waiting  Pilgrims  came, 
As  they  sat  by  the  seaside, 

And  filled  their  heart  with  flame. 

God  said,  I  am  tired  of  kings; 

I  suffer  them  no  more ; 
Up  to  my  ears  the  morning  brings 

The  outcry  of  the  poor. 

Think  ye  I  made  this  ball 

A  field  of  havoc  and  woe, 
Where  tyrants  great  and  tyrants  small 

Might  harry  the  weak  and  poor? 

There  are  many  other  singers,  sometimes  called  the 
lesser  poets — though  the  distinction  is  hardly  a  fair  one — 
who  stand  close  to  the  people  and  strike  the  notes  of 
democracy.  Be  they  lesser  poets  or  not,  they  are  no  less 
important,  for  they  are  read  by  the  people,  even  more 
than  some  of  the  greater  poets,  and  thus  give  voice  to  the 
common  aspiration.  Charles  Mackay  and  Gerald  Massey, 
Matthew  Arnold  and  Algernon  Swinburne,  Sidney  La- 
nier and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Henry  N.  Dodge  and 
Richard  Watson  Gilder,  Edwin  Markham  and  Helen 


156 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Hunt  Jackson  are  in  the  line  of  the  true  succession,  and 
are  voices  of  the  coming  dawn.  These,  and  many  others, 
are  making  the  songs  of  the  nations,  and  these  democratic 
songs  are  harbingers  of  the  democratic  age. 

There  is  space  only  to  name  the  great  writers  of  prose 
who  are  in  this  true  democratic  succession,  and  are  proph- 
ets of  the  advancing  day.  But  beginning  with  Dickens 
and  Carlyle  we  have  a  noble  succession  of  men,  both  in 
fiction  and  in  criticism,  who  at  once  profess  this  new 
faith  and  interpret  it  in  many  of  its  applications.  The 
influence  of  these  men,  with  Ruskin  and  Arnold,  Maurice 
and  Kingsley,  George  Eliot  and  Sir  Walter  Besant,  Mrs. 
Humphry  Ward  and  Richard  Whiting,  is  simply  im- 
measurable in  its  depth  and  potency.  But  no  account  of 
the  growing  dominance  of  the  democratic  ideal  in  liter- 
ature would  be  complete  which  did  not  mention  the  great 
service  of  the  many  great  writers  of  the  Continent  who 
are  all  laborers  together  in  this  one  great  cause.  La- 
mennais  and  Mazzini,  Victor  Hugo  and  George  Sand, 
in  the  earlier  time,  and  Tolstoy  and  Sienkiewicz,  Gorky 
and  Nietzsche  in  the  later  time,  are  among  the  potent  in- 
fluences in  the  world  to-day  who  all  profess  the  new  faith 
and  hail  the  new  day.  From  one  cause  and  another, 
literature  is  coming  very  close  to  man,  and  is  dealing 
with  life  as  we  find  it;  men  are  finding  romance  and 
poetry,  not  in  far-away  times  and  chivalric  adventures, 
but  in  the  common  life  of  the  people  and  in  the  aspirations 
of  the  plain  working  man.   They  who  can  best  interpret 

the  prophetic  soul 
Of  the  great  world,  dreaming  on  things  to  come, 

are  being  hailed  as  the  friends  of  man,  and  their  writings 
are  speaking  home  to  the  common  heart  with  peculiar 
fascination.  The  fact  that  this  democratic  ideal  is  find- 
ing a  voice  in  other  lands  shows  plainly  that  it  appeals  to 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 


157 


the  universal  human  heart.  And  it  shows  also  that  the 
great  seers  and  prophets  of  humanity,  whatever  may  be 
their  speech  or  their  nationality,  all  cherish  the  same  hope 
and  voice  the  same  aspiration.  In  a  large  sense  it  may 
be  said  that  the  rank  of  an  author  to-day  depends  largely 
upon  his  passion  for  this  social  faith  and  his  interest  in 
the  common  people. 

III.  A  third  factor  that  may  be  named  is  what  may  be 
called  The  General  Diffusion  of  Education.  It  is  not  easy 
for  the  man  of  this  modern  world  in  a  democratic  land, 
to  appreciate  the  conditions  in  the  Old  World,  nor  to 
realize  how  recent  this  educational  movement  is.  What 
we  call  universal  education  is  a  very  new  thing  in  the 
world.  It  is  true,  as  a  suggestive  writer  has  brought 
out,  that  in  the  great  empires  of  antiquity  there  was  a 
general  and  very  high  degree  of  mental  development.  In 
the  Greek  States  education  was  widely  diffused,  and 
Kidd  is  no  doubt  justified  in  his  contention  that  in  Athens, 
in  the  time  of  Pericles,  there  was  a  higher  and  finer 
culture  than  has  ever  existed  among  an  equal  number  of 
people  in  any  land  in  the  world  (Kidd,  "Social  Evolu- 
tion," chap.  ix).  But  we  must  note  one  fact — that  in  all 
the  Greek  States  there  was  a  large  slave  class  who  were 
entirely  shut  out  from  all  culture.  This  is  the  fact,  how- 
ever, that  has  significance  for  our  purpose — among  the 
free  citizens  there  was  a  generous  culture  of  both  mind 
and  body,  and  this  culture  may  be  considered  both  as  the 
cause  and  the  effect  of  this  free  citizenship. 

"  The  modern  age  began  with  the  invention  of  powder 
and  printing,"  says  Dean  Hodges.  "  Before  that  the  man 
with  the  book  and  the  man  on  horseback  directed  the  creed 
and  the  conduct  of  the  neighborhood."  The  cavalier  was 
so  named  from  his  chief  characteristic — he  rode  a  horse. 
This  man,  sitting  in  his  saddle  as  upon  a  throne,  clad  in 
stout  armor  which  protected  him  from  fists  and  clubs 


THE  CHRISTIAN*  STATE 


and  gave  him  some  defense  even  against  the  sharp  arrows 
of  the  time,  this  man  on  horseback  was  the  natural  ruler 
of  his  fellow-men.  Beside  the  knight  stood  the  priest 
with  book  in  hand,  who  represented  a  greater  kingdom 
and  a  mightier  power — the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  the 
power  of  God.  This  man,  with  his  weird  power  and 
wizard  learning  controlled  the  everlasting  destiny  of 
men,  and  could  open  or  shut  the  doors  of  the  celestial 
world.  "  Then  came  powder  and  printing,  and  the  whole 
world  was  turned  upside  down."  The  man  on  horseback 
found  himself  confronted  by  the  man  with  the  gun,  and 
the  old  inequality  vanished.  The  man  with  the  book 
found  himself  faced  by  a  people  with  books  in  hand,  and 
his  old  power  was  gone.  Added  to  all  this  the  people  be- 
gan to  study  the  Bible,  that,  thanks  to  the  printing-press, 
had  been  placed  in  their  hands,  and  they  found  some 
remarkable  things.  These  people  studied  the  words  of 
the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  and  they  found  that  he  did  not 
favor  a  class  but  was  the  friend  of  man.  "  The  Bible  be- 
came the  placard  of  a  revolution  whose  Marseillaise  was 
the  Magnificat "  (Hodges,  "  Faith  and  Social  Service," 
pp.  10-13). 

This  diffusion  of  education  shows  itself  in  several  ways, 
all  of  which  are  significant  in  their  relation  to  democracy. 
The  system  of  free  public  schools  has  done  much  to  pro- 
mote equality  and  good-fellowship.  Under  the  beneficent 
shadow  of  this  system  provision  is  made  for  the  equal 
education  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  children.  Boys 
and  girls  from  the  homes  of  the  rich  and  the  homes  of  the 
poor  sit  side  by  side  in  the  schoolroom,  and  not  infre- 
quently it  happens  that  the  child  of  the  mechanic  and  the 
farmer  outdistances  the  child  of  the  banker  and  the 
manufacturer.  Such  children  learn  to  respect  one  another 
and  cliques  and  castes  do  not  make  much  headway.  The 
public-school  system,  which  grew  out  of  the  democratic 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 


159 


idea,  is  now  one  of  the  agencies  that  is  making  for  de- 
mocracy and  is  guaranteeing  its  perpetuity. 

Then  the  free  press  which,  in  a  way,  is  an  effect  of 
the  new  enfranchisement,  is  also  a  potent  force  in  the 
democratic  drift.  So  long  as  Milton's  "  Areopagitica  " 
remains  in  the  language  of  men,  that  long  the  printing- 
press  will  be  free  and  unlicensed.  And  so  long  as  it 
remains  free  and  unlicensed  so  long  democracy  is  safe, 
and  tyranny  can  never  be  undisturbed.  This  free  press, 
with  its  varied  information  and  world-wide  outlook,  ap- 
peals to  all  classes  of  people,  and  challenges  them  to  think, 
to  consider  great  problems,  and  to  know  what  is  going 
on  in  the  world.  The  old  order  of  prophets  may  appear 
no  more,  but  as  Carlyle  suggests,  "  we  have  a  new  order 
of  preaching  friars.  One  of  these  preaching  friars  settles 
himself  in  every  village  and  builds  himself  a  pulpit, 
which  he  calls  a  newspaper.  Therefrom  he  preaches 
what  most  momentous  doctrine  is  in  him  for  man's  sal- 
vation; and  dost  not  thou  look  and  listen?"  (Carlyle, 
"  Sartor  Resartus  "). 

Along  with  this  goes  the  wide  and  ever-widening  dif- 
fusion of  periodical  literature  of  a  more  ambitious  char- 
acter. In  these  magazines  and  reviews  the  great  ques- 
tions of  current  interest  are  debated,  sometimes  with 
real  insight,  often  with  specious  arguments,  but  withal 
contributing  to  the  general  inquiry  and  investigation. 
A  reading  people  may  be  a  fickle  and  superficial  people, 
subject  to  sudden  changes  of  opinion  and  likely  to  form 
judgments  without  due  deliberation,  but  it  is  inconceiv- 
able that  such  a  people  should  ever  be  contented  slaves 
and  political  underlings.  Autocracies  of  all  kinds  are 
doomed  where  thought  is  free.  Democracy  is  inevitable 
where  the  people  read  and  think. 

And  one  other  factor  may  be  noted  here  that  has  di- 
rect relation  to  this  democratic  drift.    In  all  times  the 


l6o  THE  CHRISTIAN"  STATE 

order  of  prophets  has  ever  been  the  foe  of  tyrants.  It 
was  so  in  ancient  Israel,  and  it  was  so  in  modern  Europe. 
The  fact  is,  what  we  call  the  great  Reformation  grew  out 
of  an  order  of  prophets  who,  with  a  passion  for  truth 
and  with  the  Scriptures  in  hand,  denounced  the  corrup- 
tions in  the  Church  and  pleaded  for  liberty  in  the  State. 
Carlyle  has  said  that  Luther's  words,  rough  and  rude 
as  they  were,  were  half-battles  and  caused  the  pope  to 
tremble  and  the  ruler  to  give  heed.  Queen  Mary,  in 
Scotland,  declared  that  she  feared  John  Knox  more  than  a 
whole  battalion  of  soldiers.  It  is  a  matter  of  historical 
record  that  the  free  ministers  of  the  free  churches  in 
Virginia  and  Massachusetts  were  the  most  outspoken 
foes  of  autocracy  and  the  most  consistent  exponents  of 
democracy.  A  free  ministry  recruited  from  the  ranks 
of  the  people,  with  the  gospel  of  Christ  in  hand,  with 
the  passion  for  souls,  and  with  the  fear  of  God  before 
their  eyes,  constitutes  one  of  the  most  potent  forces  of 
democracy  and  forever  makes  autocracy  impossible. 

IV.  There  is  one  other  force  and  factor  that  may  be 
noted,  and  that  is  The  Momentum  of  the  Democratic 
Idea.  There  are  some  ideas  so  congenial  to  human 
nature  that  they  need  only  be  promulgated  to  be  accepted. 
The  moment  the  worth  of  the  common  man  is  admitted, 
that  moment  the  common  man  begins  to  respect  himself. 
The  moment  it  is  admitted  that  all  men  possess  certain 
inalienable  rights,  that  moment  privileges  begin  to 
tremble. 

The  history  of  the  democratic  movement  during  the 
past  six  hundred  years  is  one  long  illustration  of  this 
principle.  About  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century 
we  find  that  certain  classes  of  the  people  in  England 
are  coming  to  self-consciousness  and  are  beginning  to 
claim  their  rights  in  the  State.  At  Runnymede  they 
make  their  claims  heard  and  exact  from  an  unwilling 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY  l6l 

king  that  great  document  the  Magna  Charta.  "  These 
are  our  claims,"  the  barons  said,  "  and  if  they  are  not 
instantly  granted,  our  arms  shall  do  us  justice."  King 
John,  who  was  keen-sighted  enough  to  know  what  the 
parchment  implied,  exclaimed  in  a  fury :  "  And  why  do 
they  not  demand  my  crown  also?  By  God's  teeth  I  will 
not  grant  them  liberties  which  will  make  me  a  slave  " 
("Historian's  History,"  Vol.  XVIII,  chap.  ix).  This 
charter  wrote  out  the  consciousness  that  was  developing 
among  the  people,  but  even  more  important  than  all  it 
marked  the  transit  of  power  from  the  one  to  the  many. 
Certain  rights  are  defined,  a  principle  is  recognized,  a 
movement  is  begun,  and  history  will  write  the  conclusion 
of  the  story. 

It  is  true  that  this  movement  has  not  followed  a 
straight  course,  ever  upward  and  onward,  for  at  times 
there  have  been  many  deflections  and  eddies.  And  some- 
times, indeed,  the  stream  seems  to  disappear  like  the  river 
flowing  into  the  desert.  Yet  the  stream,  though  hidden 
for  a  time,  is  not  really  lost,  but  it  soon  bursts  forth  again 
with  renewed  volume  and  purified  by  its  subterranean 
discipline.  In  fact,  the  democratic  movement  seems  to 
gain  in  volume  and  intensity  as  time  goes  on  by  thus 
illustrating  the  principle  of  physics  that  the  momentum 
is  the  velocity  multiplied  by  the  weight.  The  history 
of  the  extension  of  the  franchise  in  England  is  the  best 
illustration  of  this  principle.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  franchise  was  narrowly  restricted, 
and  two-thirds  of  the  House  of  Commons  were  ap- 
pointed by  peers  or  other  influential  persons.  One  by  one, 
however,  the  rights  of  the  people  are  recognized,  little 
by  little  the  restrictions  are  removed ;  the  franchise  passes 
into  new  hands,  and  the  transit  of  power  from  the  few  to 
the  many  proceeds  apace.  Thenceforward  the  movement 
is  onward.   The  moment  the  franchise  is  granted  to  any 

L 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


class  of  persons  in  the  State,  that  moment  the  hour  of  the 
people  is  beginning  to  strike.  The  tendency  is  ever  toward 
an  extension  of  the  franchise  and  not  toward  its  restric- 
tion, and  the  momentum  of  the  movement  is  carrying  it 
ever  forward. 

The  same  process  may  be  traced  in  the  history  of  pop- 
ular government  in  America.  At  first  in  the  American 
colonies  the  privilege  of  suffrage  was  limited  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  recognized  churches,  and  certain  persons 
were  thus  disfranchised.  But  in  these  colonies  the  worth 
of  man  was  recognized,  and  the  freedom  of  the  soul  was 
fundamental.  Where  such  principles  are  current  the 
fully  democratic  State  is  only  a  matter  of  time  and  appli- 
cation. At  the  time  of  the  Revolution  the  most  of  the 
States  restricted  the  privilege  of  public  office  by  certain 
property  and  religious  qualifications.  "  No  atheists,  no 
free-thinkers,  no  Jews,  no  Roman  Catholics ;  no  man,  in 
short,  who  was  not  a  believer  in  some  form  of  the 
Protestant  faith,  could  ever  be  governor  of  New  Jersey, 
New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  or  Vermont"  ("Mac- 
Master's  History,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  148).  But  one  by  one  all 
the  restrictions  upon  the  people  and  their  officials  have 
been  removed,  and  to-day  there  is  no  religious  or  property 
test  of  any  kind  in  any  American  State.  We  are  not  sur- 
prised, therefore,  to  find  that  a  respectable  and  increasing 
proportion  of  the  people  in  all  of  the  States  are  contend- 
ing for  the  removal  of  all  restrictions  on  account  of  sex. 
The  history  of  popular  government  during  the  last  six 
hundred  years  shows  that  when  once  the  rights  of  man 
are  recognized  and  the  franchise  is  granted  to  any  class, 
it  is  only  a  question  of  time  and  definition  when  the  last 
restriction  will  be  removed  and  the  franchise  will  be- 
come universal.  And  when  once  the  people  have  entered 
into  this  privilege  they  are  never  likely  to  surrender  it.  In 
fact,  in  America,  this  right  of  the  people  is  embodied  in 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY  163 

the  fundamental  law  of  the  land,  and  it  can  only  be 
changed  by  the  vote  of  the  people  themselves.  As  the 
people  are  never  likely  to  pass  a  self-denying  ordinance 
shutting  themselves  out  from  this  privilege,  there  is  little 
probability  that  universal  sovereignty  will  perish  from  the 
earth. 

The  empire  of  Russia — to  take  an  illustration  from  con-  . 
temporary  history — is  passing  through  this  same  process, 
and  is  repeating  the  history  of  England  and  America.  It 
may  be  many  generations  before  the  process  works  out  to 
its  full  conclusions,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  the 
result.  The  things  that  make  for  democracy  are  at  work 
in  that  mighty  land,  and  these  things  are  far  more  likely 
to  increase  than  diminish.  The  democratic  drift  is  seen 
in  Russia,  and  no  efforts  of  czar  and  reactionaries  can 
long  delay  it. 

Then  the  presence  of  a  democratic  State  in  any  part  of 
the  world  is  a  continual  witness  for  democracy.  The 
American  republic,  as  Sir  Henry  Maine  points  out  in  his 
"  Popular  Government,"  has  greatly  influenced  the  favor 
into  which  popular  government  grew.  It  disproved  the 
once  universal  assumption  that  no  republic  could  govern 
a  large  territory,  and  that  no  strictly  republican  govern- 
ment could  be  stable.  The  success  of  popular  govern- 
ment in  America,  as  John  Morley  points  out,  has  been  the 
strongest  incentive  to  the  extension  of  popular  govern- 
ment at  home.  And  added  to  all  this  is  the  remarkable 
success  of  popular  government  in  the  thriving  colonies  in 
Australia  and  New  Zealand,  where  so  many  democratic 
experiments  have  had  such  a  successful  termination. 
In  brief,  the  democratic  movement  is  gaining  direction 
and  momentum  because  of  its  very  quality  and  power, 
and  its  extension  throughout  the  globe  is  only  a  question 
of  time  and  application. 

There  are  two  things  growing  out  of  all  this,  which 


164 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


may  be  noted  here  for  our  guidance  and  our  encourage- 
ment. For  one  thing,  as  we  have  seen,  democracy  is  not 
alone  a  form  of  government,  but  it  is  also  a  confession 
of  faith.  It  is  a  spirit  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  before 
it  is  an  institution  of  the  State.  It  has  its  origin  and  its 
vitality  in  certain  great  conceptions  and  convictions  in  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  people,  and  it  can  neither  be  hastened 
by  statutes  nor  delayed  by  denials.  It  is  not  possible 
without  these  convictions  and  conceptions ;  but  with  these 
its  coming  is  only  a  matter  of  time  and  application.  This 
being  so,  the  believer  in  democracy  can  readily  perceive 
the  work  that  he  must  do  in  order  to  extend  this  move-, 
ment  among  the  people.  The  one  who  believes  in  liberty 
for  himself  must  believe  in  liberty  for  all  mankind.  The 
best  way  to  hasten  on  the  advent  of  democracy  in  any  land 
is  to  make  the  people  ready  for  it.  And  when  the  people 
are  ready  for  it  democracy  is  as  inevitable  as  the  sunrise. 

For  another  thing,  we  see  that  the  democratic  movement 
is  in  line  of  the  great  purpose  of  God  for  his  human 
children.  The  great  purpose  which  God  is  carrying 
forward  in  the  world,  so  far  as  we  can  read  that  purpose 
in  revelation  and  in  history,  is  the  creation  of  a  kingdom 
of  free  spirits  in  which  men  live  together  in  righteousness 
and  each  one  lives  for  the  common  life.  The  State, 
which  is  the  people  organized  in  a  political  capacity  in 
behalf  of  certain  great  and  vital  human  ends,  is  an  im- 
portant agency  through  which  men  can  apprehend  and 
realize  the  purpose  of  God  in  their  social  and  political  life. 
The  State  is  the  medium  through  which  the  people  can 
co-operate  in  their  search  after  liberty  and  justice  and 
brotherhood.  But  this  is  not  all,  for  the  one  conception 
of  man  which  science  accepts  and  history  indorses,  im- 
plies that  every  man  shall  learn  to  live  for  the  purpose  of 
God  and  shall  co-operate  for  the  common  good.  The 
Christian  conception  of  man,  which  conception  it  may  be 


THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  DEMOCRACY 


I65 


said  is  in  full  harmony  with  the  scientific  conception,  de- 
mands that  every  man  shall  honor  the  relations  of  his 
life  and  shall  make  his  own  voluntary  contribution  to  the 
social  life.  But  these  conceptions,  when  realized  and 
applied,  are  nothing  less  than  the  democratic  idea  of  the 
State.  This  means  that  the  democratic  or  free  State,  the 
people  organized  in  a  political  capacity  and  voluntary 
co-operation  in  behalf  of  the  common  welfare,  is  the  one 
form  of  the  State  which  the  Christian  conception  of  man 
creates  and  allows.  There  is  a  right  deeper  than  the 
right  of  kings  to  rule,  and  that  is  the  right  of  our  hu- 
manity to  be  the  medium  through  which  the  law  of 
humanity,  coming  from  the  unseen  source  of  law,  is  pub- 
lished (Nash,  "Ethics  and  Revelation,"  p.  87).  There 
is  a  necessity  as  deep  as  life  and  as  urgent  as  gravitation 
in  favor  of  the  democratic  State,  a  necessity  that  is 
grounded  in  the  very  task  of  humanity  and  the  very 
nature  of  man.  Democracy  is  the  principle  of  Christian 
brotherhood  in  political  relations.  Democracy  is  the  one 
idea  of  human  society  that  is  befriended  by  the  universe, 
legitimated  in  history,  in  accord  with  the  Christian  spirit, 
and  inevitable  in  the  future.  Democracy  is  inevitable 
where  Christianity  is  regnant  and  men  know  one  another 
as  brothers.  The  whole  process  of  history  and  the 
whole  meaning  of  revelation  show  that  the  age  of 
kings  is  passing  and  the  age  of  the  people  is  coming.  The 
shoulder  of  God  is  behind  the  rising  tide,  and  the  child 
can  sweep  back  the  ocean  with  a  broom  more  easily  than 
the  autocrat  can  stay  this  rising  flood.  However  it  may 
be  with  the  other  factors  that  we  have  named,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  presence  of  Christianity  anywhere  in  the 
world  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  of  the  ultimate  establish- 
ment of  a  democratic  society  among  men. 


VIII 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY 

IN  these  modern  times  what  we  call  democracy  is  fast 
becoming  a  fact  in  the  life  of  the  foremost  nations. 
The  time  has  come,  in  view  of  this,  for  men  to  pause  and 
consider  what  this  movement  means  and  whither  it  tends. 
This  inquiry  is  especially  needed  in  view  of  the  divergent 
and  conflicting  estimates  which  are  held  concerning  the 
meaning  and  the  merit  of  democracy.  Thus  it  appears 
that  the  estimates  of  democracy  range  through  the  whole 
scale,  from  the  most  enthusiastic  praises  of  the  movement 
to  the  most  dismal  forecasts  for  the  future  of  man- 
kind. Some  men  regard  this  movement  as  little  else  than 
the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  while  others, 
with  certain  popes,  look  upon  it  as  little  better  than  Anti- 
christ. 

In  view  of  all  this,  it  is  worth  our  while  to  consider 
some  of  the  advantages  and  the  meaning  of  democracy, 
and  then  to  note  some  of  the  dangers  and  disadvantages 
of  the  movement. 

I.  The  Personal  Meaning  of  Democracy.  The  idea  of 
democracy,  if  we  go  behind  forms  to  realities,  is  not  so 
much  a  mode  of  government  as  a  confession  of  human 
equality.  It  is  the  confession  that  the  downmost  man  of 
society  has  an  infinite  worth.  It  is  the  recognition  by  all 
that  the  least  and  lowliest  man  is  entitled  to  fair  con- 
sideration. 

At  first  sight  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  facts  of  life 
seem  to  pronounce  a  decided  negative  to  our  conception 
of  human  equality  and  worth.    That  men  are  not  equal 
1 66 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY  167 

in  physical  and  mental  endowments,  that  there  are  vast 
natural  differences  among  them  which  no  one  can  mini- 
mize, that  there  are  some  men  on  whom  nature  seems  to 
have  set  the  stamp  of  superior  merit  from  birth,  as 
there  are  others  who  bear  the  marks  of  inferiority  written 
all  over  their  bodies — these  are  facts  which  are  patent  to 
all  observers.  Nothing  is  gained  for  the  cause  of  truth 
or  democracy  by  trying  to  deny  facts  which  are  to  be  seen 
in  every  society  and  land.  But  much  is  gained  both  for 
democracy  and  man  when  we  distinguish  between  the 
things  that  are  incidental  and  the  things  that  are  essential 
in  man's  life.  It  is  sufficient  at  this  point  to  say  that  we 
must  make  a  distinction  between  the  things  that  belong 
to  the  essence  and  quality  of  man's  life,  and  those  which 
have  to  do  merely  with  its  form  and  conditions. 

And  this  is  precisely  what  the  democratic  creed  does. 
It  affirms  in  the  most  direct  and  positive  way  the  essential 
equality  and  native  worthfulness  of  all  men;  it  affirms 
that  the  differences  and  inequalities  among  men  belong 
to  the  form  and  surface  of  life  and  do  not  affect  its  inner 
quality  and  essence.  This  is  the  fundamental  affirmation 
of  democracy,  and  the  denial  of  this  is  the  denial  of  the 
first  article  of  its  faith.  This  doctrine  does  not  mean  that 
all  men  are  equally  endowed  with  intellectual  powers  or 
that  they  all  are  of  equal  moral  worth,  for  this  is  a  thesis 
which  no  one  would  seriously  undertake  to  maintain.  It 
does  not  mean  that  all  men  are  capable  of  the  same  results, 
or  that  one  man  is  worth  as  much  to  society  as  another. 
But  it  does  mean  that  every  man  has  his  place  and  his 
value,  and  this  place  society  is  bound  to  grant  and  this 
value  society  is  bound  to  recognize.  It  does  mean  that  all 
men  are  capable  of  intelligence,  and  the  differences  that 
exist  among  them  are  due  less  to  natural  endowments  than 
to  later  conditions.  It  does  mean  that  intellectual  in- 
equality, so  far  as  it  exists,  is  common  to  all  classes,  and 


1 68 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


is  as  great  among  the  completely  emerged  tenth  as  in 
the  completely  submerged  tenth  (Ward,  "Applied  Soci- 
ology," p.  ioo).  This  creed  affirms  that  moral  worth  and 
dignity  belong  to  all  men  as  men,  and  hence  they  are  in  no 
sense  dependent  upon  the  kind  of  work  they  do  or  the 
station  they  hold  in  society.  All  truth,  Helvetius  main- 
tained, is  within  the  reach  of  all  men,  and  this,  says  Ward, 
is  certainly  true  for  all  practical  truth.  The  democratic 
creed  accepts  this  doctrine  and  endeavors  to  put  it  into 
practice  and  to  establish  it  in  social  institutions.  It  rests 
upon  the  idea  that  every  man  has  worth,  and  that  his 
personality  is  entitled  to  as  much  honor  as  the  personality 
of  any  other  man.  It  rests  upon  the  conviction  that  the 
downmost  man  has  some  meaning  in  the  total  meaning  of 
the  State,  and  this  meaning  is  entitled  to  expression.  It 
rests  upon  the  affirmation  that  his  interests  are  entitled  to 
equal  consideration  with  the  interests  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous man  in  society.  And  it  assumes  that  the  highest 
goods  of  life  are  for  all  men,  and  it  insists  that  the  down- 
most  man  shall  be  lifted  up  into  the  possession  and  appre- 
ciation of  these  goods.  In  a  word,  it  assumes  that  the 
personality  and  the  interest  of  the  common  man  are  as 
much  entitled  to  consideration  and  expression  as  those 
of  the  topmost  man. 

I.  It  is  just  here  that  we  come  in  sight  of  the  first  great 
advantage  of  democracy.  It  awakens  in  men  a  sense  of 
their  worth  and  possibilities ;  and  it  summons  men  to 
honor  this  worth  and  to  realize  their  possibilities.  Mat- 
thew Arnold  has  shown  in  his  essay  on  democracy  that 
the  chief  value  of  aristocratism  thus  far  has  been  the 
creation  in  men  of  what  may  be  called  "  the  grand  style." 
But  the  time  has  come  when  the  people  themselves  are 
coming  to  appreciate  their  worth  and  dignity,  and  are  be- 
ginning to  realize  that  there  are  high  values  in  their  lives 
and  upward  possibilities  before  them.    This  sense  of 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


169 


worth,  this  outlook  upward,  has  a  remarkable  power  of 
sobering  men  and  filling  them  with  a  sense  of  their  dig- 
nity; it  has  a  strange  power  of  uplifting  the  common  man 
and  developing  in  him  a  sense  of  his  social  worth.  In  a 
word,  the  first  advantage  of  democracy  is  found  in  this, 
that  it  recognizes  the  worth  and  dignity  of  the  average 
man  and  that  it  creates  in  this  man  a  new  honor  for  his 
personality  and  a  new  consciousness  of  his  responsibility. 

2.  Again,  democracy  means  a  great  gain  to  man  in  that 
it  summons  each  man  to  play  a  man's  part  in  society. 
It  throws  a  responsibility  on  each  man  and  gives  him  a 
stake  in  the  State's  struggle  for  life  and  progress. 

Mazzini,  one  of  the  great  prophets  of  democracy,  has 
given  us  a  noble  conception  of  the  mission  of  humanity, 
and  has  shown  the  work  of  man  in  this  task  of  humanity. 
Humanity,  which  he  calls  the  living  word  of  God,  the  col- 
lective and  continuous  being,  is  the  only  interpreter  of 
God's  law.  Humanity,  said  another  thinker  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, is  a  man  ever  learning;  and  so,  says  Mazzini,  it  is  a 
man  whose  education  is  ever  progressing,  a  being  whose 
task  is  never  ended  (Mazzini,  by  Bolton  King,  p.  242). 
This  task  of  humanity  is  the  task  of  all  its  members,  and 
it  demands  the  co-operation  of  all  with  all,  for  the  sake  of 
all.  "  Herein  in  this  necessity  lies  the  legitimacy  of  de- 
mocracy, of  its  aspirations  after  the  emancipation,  the  ele- 
vation, the  co-operation  of  all ;  herein  also  lies  the  secret 
of  its  inevitable  power,  inevitable  as  the  accomplishment 
of  the  designs  of  God."  "  For  democracy  is  not  the  mere 
liberty  of  all,  but  government  freely  consented  to  by  all 
and  acting  for  all"  (Mazzini,  "Life  and  Writings,"  Vol. 
VI,  pp.  225,  117,  115). 

In  a  monarchy  the  field  of  struggle  for  the  common 
man  is  greatly  restricted,  and  his  interest  in  the  social 
welfare  is  almost  zero.  His  interest  in  life  is  largely 
confined  to  the  effort  to  secure  food  and  raiment  for  him- 


170 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


self  and  his  family;  as  he  has  no  part  in  the  government 
he  feels  no  responsibility  for  the  social  welfare.  Whole 
ranges  of  possible  human  interest  and  activity  lie  entirely 
beyond  his  ken  and  conscience.  He  has  little  to  do  be- 
yond the  acceptance  of  his  place  in  the  social  order  with  a 
dutiful  submission  to  the  will  of  superiors.  Consider- 
ations of  social  and  national  welfare  do  not  disturb  him, 
for  the  reason  that  he  has  no  responsibility  for  the  social 
order. 

In  a  democracy,  however,  all  this  is  changed.  Now  the 
average  man  is  called  to  wear  the  toga  of  citizenship  and 
is  summoned  to  take  thought  for  the  common  life.  The 
responsibility  for  the  State  is  laid  upon  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  people  themselves,  and  every  one  has  a  part 
in  the  total  task  of  the  State.  The  people  themselves 
must  face  and  solve  all  the  problems  of  the  State ;  they 
must  conserve  the  social  welfare  and  must  co-operate  for 
the  common  good ;  they  must  frame  legislation  and  must 
form  the  nation's  conscience ;  in  a  word,  in  a  democracy 
every  citizen  is  called  to  bear  the  burden  and  heat  of  the 
State's  struggle  for  life  and  progress.  Two  things  grow 
out  of  all  this  which  have  vital  relation  to  the  moral 
worth  and  progress  of  man.  For  one  thing,  the  moral 
worth  or  worthlessness  of  each  man  is  revealed  and  reg- 
istered in  the  way  he  fulfils  his  social  and  political  duties 
and  learns  to  take  thought  for  the  common  welfare. 
That  is  to  say,  no  man's  moral  life  is  complete,  no  one 
is  a  man  in  all  the  reach  and  meaning  of  the  divine  ideal, 
till  he  has  become  a  citizen  and  has  learned  to  play  a 
man's  part  in  the  life  of  the  world. 

And  for  another  thing  this  life  of  citizenship  is  itself 
a  training  school  for  man  in  social  life  and  moral  prog- 
ress. Since  each  man  is  a  citizen  in  the  State  he  must 
prepare  himself  for  citizenship,  and  must  do  a  citizen's 
work.    This  very  work  of  preparation  for  citizenship  is 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY  17I 

one  of  the  best  parts  of  his  moral  discipline,  as  his  devo- 
tion to  the  public  welfare  is  the  best  expression  of  his 
moral  worth.  This  advantage  of  democracy  is  not  often 
considered,  and  yet  it  is  fundamental  and  vital.  Carlyle 
objected  to  popular  government  for  the  reason  that  it  im- 
posed burdens  upon  men  which  they  were  ill  prepared 
to  bear.  He  was  shrewd  enough  to  see  that  many  men 
in  the  most  favored  land  are  entirely  unfitted  for  citizen- 
ship, and  to  give  them  a  voice  in  the  affairs  of  State  is 
simply  to  invite  disaster. 

The  creation  of  a  moral  world,  however,  implies  a 
moral  process.  The  art  of  life  is  learned  by  the  process 
of  living.  Every  child  learns  how  to  walk  by  actually 
walking.  Swimming  is  not  learned  in  a  parlor  by  a 
text-book,  but  by  actual  practice  in  the  water.  Men 
achieve  a  moral  character  by  passing  through  a  moral 
discipline.  Men  are  most  fully  trained  for  citizenship 
by  actually  meeting  the  duties  of  a  citizen.  Men  who 
are  free  to  choose  their  religion  will  often  make  mis- 
takes, but  it  is  plain  that  every  man's  religion  has  vitality 
and  value  just  so  far  as  it  is  a  personal  choice.  An  in- 
herited religion  is  about  as  artificial  and  external  as  in- 
herited wealth  or  title.  The  Reformers  did  a  bold  thing 
when  they  gave  the  Bible  into  the  hands  of  men,  but  their 
action  has  made  for  true  religion.  The  Creator  of  all  did 
a  bolder  thing  when  he  entrusted  to  man  the  making  of 
his  own  destiny,  but  in  so  doing  he  showed  what  were  the 
things  he  most  highly  prized.  If  the  creation  of  a  king- 
dom of  free  spirits  is  the  purpose  which  God  is  carrying 
forward  in  the  world,  then  the  time  must  come  when  men 
must  take  into  their  own  hands  the  process  of  social  de- 
velopment. Life  from  beginning  to  end  is  a  discipline,  and 
the  discipline  of  living  is  the  best  preparation  for  life. 
Men  are  trained  for  citizenship  by  attempting  to  fulfil 
the  duties  of  a  citizen. 


172 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Thus,  a  democracy  is  a  school  of  citizenship,  and  this 
is  one  of  its  chief  values.  Wendell  Phillips,  in  his 
notable  oration  on  "  The  Scholar  in  a  Republic,"  has  de- 
clared that  when  we  trust  the  people,  the  wise  and  the 
ignorant,  the  good  and  the  bad,  with  the  gravest  ques- 
tions, in  the  end  we  educate  the  race.  And  in  the  end  you 
secure,  not  perfect  institutions,  not  necessarily  good  ones, 
but  the  best  institutions  possible  while  human  nature  is 
the  basis  and  the  only  material  to  build  with.  Phillips 
had  the  most  unwavering  faith  in  the  people,  and  he 
showed  his  faith  by  his  works.  He  believed  that  the  free 
discussion  of  public  questions  was  the  best  education  the 
people  could  have,  both  in  citizenship  and  in  life.  It  has 
been  pointed  out  by  Gibbon  that  we  have  two  educations, 
one  that  is  derived  from  teachers,  and  the  other  that 
we  give  ourselves.  The  latter  is  the  only  real  education 
the  great  majority  of  mankind  receive,  and  withal  it  is 
the  best  possible  education.  It  is  better  to  think  wrongly 
than  not  to  think  at  all.  Intelligence  can  only  be  trained 
by  use ;  conscience  can  only  be  made  by  bringing  moral 
and  political  questions  before  its  bar  for  adjudication ; 
life  can  only  be  learned  by  living.  If  the  creation  of  in- 
telligence, conscientiousness,  and  self-control  in  the 
people  is  any  part  of  the  meaning  of  the  world  and  the 
discipline  of  life,  then  a  democracy  abundantly  justifies 
itself. 

The  best  friend  of  democracy  will  probably  admit  that 
it  has  some  serious  defects,  and  that  it  does  not  always 
produce  the  results  that  were  anticipated.  In  a  de- 
mocracy it  often  happens  that  there  is  much  social  fric- 
tion, and  sometimes  the  machinery  of  government  seems 
to  creak  wofully.  But  before  we  pass  an  adverse  judg- 
ment upon  democracy  and  extol  monarchy  or  aristoc- 
racy, it  may  be  well  to  pause  and  ask  what  is  the  real 
work  of  the  State.   The  real  work  of  the  State,  the  one 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


173 


task  which  explains  all  other  tasks,  is  the  union  of  all  in 
behalf  of  all  through  the  socialization  of  their  life  and 
their  voluntary  co-operation  for  the  common  life.  That 
is,  the  State  is  the  medium  of  the  mutual  sacrifices  and 
services  of  the  people,  and  in  so  far  as  it  is  such  a  medium 
it  is  fulfilling  its  end.  The  smooth  and  quiet  working 
of  the  machinery  of  government  in  a  monarchy  is  an  in- 
teresting sight,  and  to  those  who  see  nothing  beyond  the 
machinery,  monarchy  is  an  ideal  form  of  government. 
But  the  discipline  of  men  in  moral  will,  the  training  of 
men  in  the  art  of  living  together,  after  all  are  the  real 
concerns  of  the  world,  and  as  these  results  are  achieved 
the  real  purpose  of  the  State  is  subserved. 

3.  There  is  one  other  advantage  in  democracy  that  may 
be  named  under  the  head  of  the  personal  advantages. 
Democracy  means  freedom  of  self-expression,  and  it 
means  equality  of  opportunity ;  it  means  that  every  man's 
personality  is  honored  and  every  man's  contribution  to 
society  is  desired. 

In  the  nations  of  the  Old  World  society  was  divided 
into  castes  and  classes,  with  impassable  barriers  between. 
In  a  monarchical  and  aristocratic  State  society  is  still 
divided  into  classes  built  upon  blood  or  property  with 
social  lines  sharply  drawn.  All  this  means  limitation  of 
the  area  of  aspiration  and  opportunity  for  the  average 
man.  The  range  of  opportunity  before  the  common  man 
under  such  circumstances  is  strictly  limited,  and  the  de- 
mand that  is  made  upon  the  average  man  is  likewise  lim- 
ited. Each  man  is  expected  to  remain  in  his  class  and  to 
follow  the  calling  of  his  fathers.  By  the  very  nature  of 
the  case  a  society  with  a  rigid  system  of  castes  and  classes 
is  an  unprogressive  society,  even  where  it  is  not  entirely 
stationary.  In  an  aristocratic  society  change  is  always 
difficult  and  progress  is  always  slow ;  in  fact,  aristocratic 
societies  dread  change,  and  do  not  believe  in  progress. 


174 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


But  even  more  significant  than  this  is  the  fact  that  in 
an  aristocratic  and  stratified  society  very  little  is  expected 
of  the  common  man.  He  is  required,  of  course,  "  to 
know  his  betters,"  and  is  charged  to  be  "  content  with  the 
station  in  life  assigned  him  by  providence."'  He  is  re- 
garded as  the  divinely  appointed  hewer  of  wood  and 
drawer  of  water,  and  for  this  little  education  is  needed. 
By  walls  that  are  real,  though  they  may  not  be  of  stone, 
he  is  shut  out  of  many  regions  of  life  and  opportunity. 
By  the  necessities  of  the  case  he  is  denied  opportunity 
for  self-expression  beyond  a  narrow  range,  and  has  thus 
little  scope  for  any  talents  he  may  possess.  An  aristo- 
cratic society  rests  upon  the  assumption  that  the  so-called 
lower  classes  are  composed  of  inferior  people  with  little 
natural  ability,  people  of  whom  nothing  much  is  ex- 
pected and  on  whom  the  gift  of  opportunity  would  simply 
be  wasted. 

But  in  a  democracy  all  this  is  changed,  and  the  assump- 
tion is  different.  According  to  the  first  article  of  the 
democratic  faith  men  are  entitled  to  liberty,  and  should 
have  equal  opportunity  for  self-expression.  Democracy 
assumes  that  every  man's  life  has  worth ;  it  assumes  that 
he  has  some  endowment  which  is  of  social  value ;  it  de- 
mands that  each  man  shall  have  opportunity  for  the  full 
expression  of  his  personality,  and  it  insists  that  each 
man  shall  have  scope  for  all  of  his  powers.  It  is  some- 
times supposed  that  democracy  means  the  widening  of 
the  way  into  political  life,  thus  enabling  the  child  of  lowly 
birth  to  rise  to  the  highest  office.  It  means  this  but  it 
means  immeasurably  more  than  this.  It  means  that  the 
life  of  the  average  man  has  high  possibilities,  and  it 
asks  that  the  door  of  opportunity  shall  be  opened  for 
him.  Thus  in  democratic  America  it  has  happened  that 
many  of  the  men  who  have  achieved  truest  success  and 
have  made  the  largest  contribution  to  the  national  wel- 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


175 


fare  have  been  men  from  the  so-called  humbler  walks  in 
life.  Napoleon  boasted  that  he  had  opened  a  career  for  all 
talents,  and  this  boast  of  the  dictator  is  the  achievement 
of  democracy. 

II.  The  Social  Benefits  of  Democracy.  According  to 
democracy  the  people  are  sovereign,  and  each  man  must 
live  a  royal  life.  According  to  democracy  the  govern- 
ment, which  is  of  the  people,  is  also  by  the  people,  and 
thus  the  quality  of  the  government  depends  upon  the 
quality  of  the  people.  This  means  that  the  State  has  an 
interest  in  every  one  of  its  citizens,  and  that  no  one  can 
live  an  unintelligent  and  unsocial  life  without  danger 
by  so  much  to  the  State.  And  it  means  also  that  the 
whole  life  and  worth  of  the  State  are  under  bonds  to 
take  thought  for  its  more  backward  members  and  to 
create  in  them  a  fitness  for  citizenship.  Some  aspects  of 
this  principle  will  become  plain  as  we  proceed  with  our 
inquiry. 

In  these  latter  times  a  great  new  fateful  term  has 
come  into  human  speech,  and  in  the  word  solidarity  is 
implied  one  of  the  most  vital  principles  of  social  thought. 
"  The  crowning  discovery  of  modern  physical  science  is 
the  unity  of  the  universe,  the  oneness  of  all  things 
visible  and  invisible  in  this  great  universal  system  of 
matter  and  force  and  law"  (Moss,  in  "Missionary 
Centenary  Addresses,"  p.  173).  The  world  is  an  organic 
'totality,  and  all  things  move  together  because  all  things 
are  linked  together.  The  very  conception  of  an  indi- 
vidual implies  a  larger  whole,  of  which  the  individual  is 
but  a  part.  The  individual  is  nothing  apart  from  the  life 
of  the  race,  and  the  life  of  the  race  finds  expression  in 
and  through  the  human  individual.  Thus  we  are  com- 
pelled to  think  of  humanity  not  as  a  series  of  disconnected 
and  isolated  individuals  and  fragments,  but  as  the  inter- 
related and  interdependent  members  of  an  organic  whole. 


176 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Each  man  is  the  richer  or  the  poorer,  the  stronger  or 
the  weaker  for  the  virtues  and  the  vices,  the  diseases  or 
the  health,  the  industry  or  the  indolence  of  the  people 
who  perished  before  the  dawn  of  history.  The  sins  and 
mistakes  of  long-dead  empires  cast  their  shadows  over 
our  civilization,  and  we  must  pay  the  penalty  of  crimes 
committed  by  the  men  who  built  the  pyramids.  Society 
may  draw  its  imaginary  lines  of  national  and  social  dis- 
tinctions, and  may  resolve  that  Jews  shall  have  no  dealings 
with  Samaritans,  and  the  East  Side  shall  have  no  part  in 
Fifth  Avenue.  But  the  facts  of  solidarity  take  no  ac- 
count of  these  imaginary  lines,  and  make  us  see  that  after 
all  we  are  all  one.  Never  again  can  the  man  who  thinks 
in  the  categories  of  Christianity  and  sociology  think  of 
humanity  as  a  series  of  individuals  each  complete  in  him- 
self ;  rather,  he  must  think  of  it  as  an  organism  in  which 
the  co-operations  of  the  parts  maketh  the  increase  of  the 
whole,  a  body  in  which  each  but  subserves  the  other's 
gain.  In  the  spirit  of  Cain  one  class  in  the  community 
may  deny  the  bond  of  brotherhood  and  may  ask,  "  Am 
I  my  brother's  keeper?"  but  in  a  hundred  ways  the  dis- 
honored bond  will  assert  itself  and  hard  necessity  will 
compel  man  to  take  thought  for  the  things  of  others. 
The  plague  and  the  pestilence  are  sometimes  the  most 
effective  preachers  of  brotherhood,  and  teach  in  emphatic 
and  undeniable  terms  that  God  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  and  classes  of  men.  The  misery,  the  poverty, 
and  the  crime  of  the  East  Side  affect  the  health,  the 
security,  and  the  taxation  of  Fifth  Avenue ;  and  Fifth 
Avenue  cannot  be  perfect  till  the  East  Side  is  changed. 
"  There  will  be  no  pure  air  for  the  correctest  Levite  to 
breathe  till  the  laws  of  sanitation  have  been  applied  to 
the  moral  slums"  (Jones,  "Browning,"  p.  63). 

All  this  serves  to  bring  out  the  relation  of  this  law 
of  solidarity  to  the  democratic  State.    For  one  thing,  in 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


177 


a  democracy  the  vote  of  the  scholar  and  saint  counts  for 
no  more  than  the  vote  of  the  ignoramus  and  the  hoodlum. 
What  shall  we  do  under  these  circumstances?  Shall  we 
take  the  ballot  away  from  the  hoodlum  and  give  it  to 
the  scholar?  We  cannot  do  that,  and  what  is  more,  we 
ought  not  attempt  to  do  it.  The  thing  for  the  scholar 
to  do  is  to  transform  the  hoodlum  into  a  full-rounded 
man,  and  to  provide  that  there  shall  be  no  such  unworthy 
members  in  the  State.  Thus  democracy  with  its  universal 
suffrage  puts  every  man  under  bonds  to  take  thought 
for  the  common  welfare  and  to  help  his  less  fortunate 
brother.  Democracy  puts  the  resources  and  the  in- 
telligence of  all  in  pledge  in  behalf  of  the  weaker  and 
more  backward  members  of  society. 

There  are  those  who  bewail  the  fact  of  universal 
suffrage,  and  see  in  it  nothing  but  a  leveling  down. 
Others  have  a  chronic  distrust  of  the  people,  and  believe 
the  affairs  of  State  have  fallen  into  incompetent  hands. 
But  much  of  this  distrust  of  the  people  on  the  part  of  the 
educated  and  cultured  portion  of  the  community  grows 
out  of  an  utter  ignorance  of  the  great  heart  of  the  people 
themselves.  And  some  of  it  also  grows  out  of  the  subtle 
hope  that  in  some  way  the  bond  of  human  brotherhood 
and  social  obligation  may  be  annulled.  The  cultured 
and  ease-loving  class  who  find  life  a  pleasant  affair  find 
that  the  social  obligations  of  human  brotherhood  are 
irksome  and  heavy.  Many  are  not  willing  to  do  their 
whole  duty  toward  their  less  fortunate  fellows,  and  are 
not  willing  to  use  their  advantages  in  life  as  so  many 
levers  for  uplifting  their  degraded  brothers.  They  ob- 
ject to  democracy  for  the  reason  that  it  puts  the  strong 
and  competent  under  bonds  to  take  thought  for  the  weak 
and  defective.  They  see  clearly  enough  that  no  demo- 
cratic State  is  safe  and  satisfactory  so  long  as  one-half 
of  the  voters  are  ignorant  and  venal.    But  many  are  not 

M 


i/8 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


willing  to  accept  their  full  share  of  social  responsibility 
and  seek  to  make  such  voters  impossible.  The  easiest 
way  out,  to  their  minds,  is  to  deny  the  full  privileges 
of  citizenship  to  their  less  qualified  brothers.  Wendell 
Phillips  has  said,  and  his  words  should  be  carefully 
pondered,  "  No  democracy  ever  claimed  that  the  vote  of 
ignorance  and  crime  was  as  good  in  any  sense  as  that  of 
wisdom  and  virtue.  It  only  asserts  that  crime  and  ig- 
norance have  the  same  right  to  vote  that  virtue  has. 
Only  by  allowing  that  right,  and  so  appealing  to  their 
sense  of  justice  and  throwing  upon  them  the  burden  of 
their  full  responsibility,  can  we  hope  ever  to  raise  crime 
and  ignorance  to  the  level  of  self-respect"  (Martyn, 
"  Life  of  Phillips,"  p.  581).  Men  are  naturally  so  selfish, 
so  exclusive  in  their  interest,  that  only  by  some  such  con- 
cern for  themselves  can  they  be  induced  to  consider  their 
brothers'  welfare.  Democracy  emphasizes  this  bond  of 
brotherhood  and  lays  upon  each  citizen  the  burden  of  his 
social  obligation. 

The  idea  of  democracy,  we  have  seen,  is  less  a  form 
of  government  than  a  confession  of  human  brother- 
hood. Its  fundamental  principle  is  equality,  its  inner 
spirit  is  confidence  in  one  another,  and  its  supreme  con- 
cern is  interest  in  the  other  man.  Thus  democracy,  when 
true  to  its  source  and  its  ideal,  is  inspired  by  the  Christian 
spirit,  as  Christianity  when  true  to  its  ideal  and  aim 
creates  the  democratic  State.  Christianity,  in  its  first 
article,  is  confidence  in  men ;  it  is  a  passion  for  the  down- 
most  man ;  it  is  a  missionary  enterprise  seeking  to  help 
the  other  man  and  to  create  in  him  a  full  consciousness 
of  his  worth.  Democracy  in  so  far  as  it  is  true  to  its 
source  and  spirit,  believes  in  the  possibilities  of  the  most 
backward  man;  it  holds  its  resources  in  pledge  for  his 
uplifting,  and  it  seeks  to  create  in  him  the  full  conscious- 
ness of  a  citizen.    The  believer  in  democracy,  who  has 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


179 


even  a  touch  of  the  Christian  spirit,  can  never  rest  con- 
tent so  long  as  a  single  soul  in  the  State  is  unfit  for 
citizenship,  and  is  living  an  unprivileged  life. 

And  this  means  that  the  whole  worth  of  the  people  is 
held  in  pledge  for  the  uplifting  of  the  downmost  man  in 
the  State.  The  spirit  of  democracy  is  not  only  a  confession 
of  faith,  but  it  is  also  a  principle  of  action.  Democracy 
means  that  men  are  brothers,  and  that  each  is  responsible 
for  his  brother's  keeping.  It  means  that  all  men  are 
under  bonds  to  help  all  other  men  who  need  help.  Men 
are  very  slow  in  learning  that  each  is  his  brother's 
keeper,  and  that  all  are  under  obligations  to  each.  In 
view  of  their  social  results  in  the  education  of  man,  we 
may  thank  God  for  microbes  and  bacilli,  for  they  have 
been  the  great  promoters  of  human  sympathy  and  of  the 
sense  of  social  responsibility.  "  They  preach  the  gospel 
of  brotherhood  far  and  wide,  saying  in  such  tones  that 
people  are  bound  to  sit  up  and  listen :  We  are  all  mem- 
bers one  of  another;  if  one  neglected  member  suffer,  all 
the  other  members  may,  by  reason  of  these  very  germs, 
be  called  upon  to  suffer  with  it  "  (Brown,  "  The  Social 
Message  of  the  Modern  Pulpit,"  p.  162).  Thus  de- 
mocracy, which  is  a  confession  of  human  brotherhood,  is 
also  a  missionary  principle  which  impels  men  to  go  forth 
in  an  effort  to  uplift  the  downmost  man  and  to  give  him 
a  true  inheritance  in  the  State. 

III.  The  Political  Advantages  of  Democracy.  De- 
mocracy in  the  words  of  its  best  representative,  means  a 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people.  That  a  democratic  form  of  government  has 
advantages  not  possessed  by  any  other  government  is 
obvious  for  several  reasons. 

1.  In  a  democratic  government  the  interests  of  all  of 
the  people  are  most  likely  to  be  subserved.  In  a  de- 
mocracy government  is  largely  a  government  by  public 


i8o 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


opinion,  and  public  opinion  is  made  up  of  the  interests, 
the  sentiments,  the  convictions,  and  the  demands  of  the 
people.  For  this  reason  the  government  is  ever  in  close 
and  vital  touch  with  the  people,  and  in  the  most  real  sense 
it  reflects  the  common  judgment.  The  voice  of  the 
people  can  easily  make  itself  heard,  and  when  heard  it  is 
likely  to  be  heeded. 

In  a  monarchy  or  an  aristocracy  this  is  not  by  any. 
means  the  case.  The  throne  is  far  removed  from  the 
people,  and  so  many  functionaries  stand  between  sov- 
ereign and  subjects,  that  an  echo  from  the  great  world 
outside  can  hardly  reach  the  throne  room  of  the  mon- 
arch. In  a  democracy,  however,  the  people  must  be 
heard  and  heeded.  As  a  rule,  whatever  can  be  shown  to 
be  advantageous  to  the  people,  is  sure  to  be  adopted 
sooner  or  later.  Democracy  provides  an  opportunity  for 
the  full  and  free  discussion  of  platforms  and  programmes. 
By  a  process  of  natural  selection  the  bad  measures  will 
finally  be  rejected  and  the  good  will  be  retained. 

It  has  been  claimed,  not  without  reason,  that  the  demo- 
cratic State  provides  the  best  machinery  for  social  prog- 
ress. Prof.  N.  P.  Gilman,  in  a  book  of  much  insight, 
has  shown  that  the  democratic  idea,  as  embodied  in  the 
American  government,  furnishes  the  best  answer  to  the 
demands  of  the  social  radicals.  Every  advantage  which 
the  most  ardent  Socialist  finds  implied  in  socialism  may 
be  realized,  and  must  be  realized  in  a  democracy  when 
the  people  are  ready  to  give  such  a  scheme  a  chance  to 
work.  Thus,  whatever  advantage  may  accrue  to  society, 
will  be  secured  through  the  intellectual  growth  of  the 
people,  coupled  with  their  elevation  in  moral  character. 
As  it  is  not  necessary  to  burn  down  the  barn  in  order  to 
get  rid  of  the  rats,  so  neither  is  it  necessary  to  destroy 
the  existing  social  system  in  order  to  secure  any  needed 
reform.    Names  count  for  little;  whatever  can  be  shown 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY  l8l 

to  be  advantageous  to  the  higher  and  better  interests  of 
the  people,  be  it  socialistic  or  individualistic  in  spirit  and 
form,  is  sure  to  be  tried  sooner  or  later  in  a  democracy. 

The  building  of  ideal  commonwealths  is  an  easy  and 
delightful  task,  and  such  dreams  have  done  much  to 
show  the  way  of  human  progress.  But  then  theory  must 
be  supplemented  by  practical  experience,  and  millenniums 
cannot  be  made  to  order.  The  dream  of  the  most 
alluring  Utopia  must  be  submitted  to  the  people  for 
final  adjudication.  Before  they  leave  the  woes  they  have 
and  fly  to  others  they  know  not  of,  they  must  be  per- 
suaded that  the  move  will  be  advantageous  all  around. 
At  any  rate — and  this  is  the  point  of  the  whole  conten- 
tion— a  democratic  form  of  government  furnishes  an 
open  field  for  the  discussion  of  all  social  and  political 
questions,  and  it  is  the  guarantee  that  whatever  com- 
mends itself  to  the  informed  and  convinced  judgment  of 
the  people  will  finally  be  adopted. 

2.  The  very  idea  of  democracy  means  mutual  aims  and 
common  responsibilities.  In  a  democracy  the  men  of 
culture  and  ideals  are  under  bonds  to  take  thought 
for  the  less  cultured,  and  to  put  forth  effort  to  help  the 
laggards  in  the  march.  But  a  democracy  not  only  lays 
this  obligation  upon  men,  but  it  also  provides  a  free 
field  for  the  trial  of  any  experiments.  We  may  be  sure 
that,  so  long  as  there  are  men  with  large  ideas  and  the 
social  spirit,  that  long  there  will  be  proposed  many  plans 
to  hasten  the  social  progress.  And  so  long  as  men  are 
open  to  persuasion  and  are  anxious  to  try  new  experi- 
ments, so  long  all  kinds  of  social  programmes  will  be 
tried.  Thus  a  democracy  makes  constant  demands  upon 
the  more  progressive  portion  of  the  community  to  formu- 
late plans  for  social  betterment.  It  compels  men  to  sub- 
ject all  these  plans  to  the  final  test  of  their  social  effi- 
ciency.   And  so  it  is  that  democracy  at  once  conserves 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


the  good  of  the  past,  yet  furnishes  opportunity  for  wider 
good  in  the  future  and  all  this  without  revolution  or 
bloodshed. 

There  is  a  weapon  swifter  still, 

And  surer  than  the  bayonet, 
That  executes  a  freeman's  will 

As  lightning  does  the  will  of  God. 

3.  There  is  one  other  advantage  that  may  be  men- 
tioned, and  it  is  in  a  way  significant  of  the  whole  demo- 
cratic movement.  In  a  monarchy  or  an  aristocracy,  the 
ruling  upper  class  is  quite  fixed  and  stable ;  members  are 
born  into  this  class,  and  they  take  their  place  with  no  one 
to  challenge  their  right.  In  such  a  society,  also,  the 
lower  subject  classes  are  no  less  fixed  and  permanent; 
the  members  of  these  classes  may  look  upward  with  ad- 
miration upon  their  betters,  but  it  seldom  occurs  to  them 
to  aspire  to  those  heights  of  noble  privilege.  Thus  such 
a  society  is  usually  quite  peaceful  and  moves  along  with 
little  friction  between  the  classes.  But  in  a  democracy 
all  this  is  changed.  There  is  no  hereditary  class  of  rulers 
and  nobles,  but  all  belong  to  the  common  class  of 
"  people."  And  yet  no  society  can  long  endure  without 
rulers  and  leaders,  and  least  of  all  can  a  democracy  live 
without  such.  Every  believer  in  democracy  will  agree 
with  Mazzini  that  the  ideal  democracy  is  that  in  which 
we  have  a  government  of  all  the  people  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  best  and  bravest.  But  how  shall  we  find 
out  who  are  the  best  and  bravest  people  in  the  State,  and 
give  them  the  place  that  is  theirs  by  natural  right?  A 
monarchy  has  its  own  method  of  selection,  and  this  is  in 
the  main  selection  by  the  accident  of  birth  and  blood.  A 
democracy  has  a  different  method  of  selection,  and  in 
the  main  this  is  selection  by  fitness  and  worth.  In  this 
process  of  selection  great  mistakes  may  be  made,  and 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DEMOCRACY  183 

there  may  be  much  confusion,  but,  after  all,  the  results 
fully  justify  the  process.  A  democracy  that  could  bring 
Abraham  Lincoln  from  the  rail-splitter's  cabin  and  seat 
him  in  the  presidential  chair  will  have  no  difficulty  in 
justifying  itself  at  the  bar  of  history. 

And  beyond  all  a  democracy  differs  very  widely  from  a 
monarchy,  not  only  in  its  method  of  selection,  but  in  its 
definition  of  the  marks  of  fitness.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  nature  and  history  fitness  is  not  measured  by 
such  external  and  artificial  signs  as  blood  and  culture, 
or  even  strength  and  self-assertiveness,  for  these  are 
purely  arbitrary  and  accidental  signs,  and  count  for  little 
in  the  real  progress  of  society.  The  marks  of  fitness  in 
a  truly  human  and  moral  society  are  rather  such  things 
as  inner  worth  and  social  sympathy,  nearness  to  the 
people,  and  appreciation  of  their  needs.  The  democratic 
method  of  selecting  leaders  is  quite  as  satisfactory  as 
can  be  found  at  this  stage  of  human  progress.  It  may 
score  some  signal  failures,  but  then  it  is  pretty  sure  to 
score  a  lower  percentage  of  failures  than  any  other 
method  yet  devised.  At  any  rate,  poor  old  humanity, 
after  the  bitter  experiences  .of  the  past,  is  not  likely  soon 
to  repudiate  this  method  in  favor  of  either  the  mon- 
archical or  the  aristocratic  method.  The  presidents  of 
the  United  States,  during  the  century  and  a  quarter  of 
its  existence  have  not  all  possessed  all  the  marks  of 
greatness,  but  then  these  men  will  bear  comparison  with 
the  hereditary  monarchs  of  the  world  during  the  same 
period. 

In  all  our  thought  of  the  State  it  is  important  that  we 
keep  in  mind  one  fact — that  it  exists  for  the  sake  of  man, 
and  not  merely  for  itself.  We  may  grant  that  in  a  de- 
mocracy there  is  much  blundering  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  and  government  may  at  times  be  diverted  from 
its  true  aims.    But,  after  all,  in  a  democracy  there  is  the 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


desire  of  the  people  to  put  their  faith  into  practice,  and  to 
build  up  in  the  earth  a  human  society  which  shall  be  the 
human  realization  of  the  divine  ideal.  Democracy  may 
have  its  dangers  and  disadvantages,  but  it  has  its  advan- 
tages that  are  most  real  and  manifest,  advantages  at  once 
personal,  social,  and  political. 


IX 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 

DEMOCRACY  is  an  accepted  fact  in  many  lands 
to-day,  and  a  marked  tendency  in  all  lands.  For 
good  or  for  ill,  for  weal  or  for  woe,  the  great  nations  are 
launching  forth  on  the  rising  tide  of  popular  government. 
It  is  too  late  in  the  day  for  men  to  debate  whether  or 
not  democracy  shall  exist  at  all  in  the  world.  And  it  is 
perhaps  too  early  for  men  to  appraise  this  movement  at 
its  true  value  and  forecast  its  future  development.  For 
the  present  it  rather  remains  for  them  to  understand  this 
universal  tendency,  to  emphasize  its  good  features,  and  to 
eliminate  its  evil  elements. 

As  might  be  expected,  opinion  is  divided  with  respect 
to  this  new  phenomenon  we  call  democracy.  Some  per- 
sons take  a  very  gloomy  view  of  the  situation,  and 
tremble  for  the  future  of  the  world.  The  full  coming  of 
democracy  in  their  fears  is  equivalent  to  the  return  of 
chaos  and  old  night.  Others  never  tire  of  singing  the 
praises  of  democracy,  and  look  upon  it  as  the  one  step 
preceding  the  millennium.  The  realization  of  the  demo- 
cratic State  is  to  their  rosy  hopes  the  kingdom  of  God 
come  among  men.  These  are  extreme  views,  and  by 
the  nature  of  the  case  each  ignores  certain  necessary 
features  in  the  other.  But  all  students  and  statesmen 
recognize  in  democracy  a  new  and  potent  force  which 
is  destined  in  time  to  effect  radical  changes  in  the  struc- 
ture of  society  and  in  men's  views  of  life.  And  all  stu- 
dents and  statesmen  who  are  not  blinded  by  prejudice 
or  fear,  see  also  that  there  are  both  good  and  evil  possi- 

185 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


bilities  in  this  movement.  The  universal  tendency  is  one 
thing,  and  some  of  the  incidental  results  of  that  tendency 
are  quite  different  things.  The  universal  tendency,  we 
may  assume  in  view  of  what  has  been  said  in  earlier 
chapters,  is  good  and  is  part  of  the  nature  of  things.  The 
evil  results  that  accompany  it,  and  these  evils  as  we  shall 
see  are  neither  few  nor  trifling,  are  the  incidental  results 
and  grow  out  of  the  imperfect  will  of  man. 

The  consideration  of  the  advantages  of  democracy 
must  not  blind  us  to  perils,  both  great  and  grave.  To  say 
that  democracy  possesses  more  advantages  than  any 
other  form  of  government  is  not  enough.  The  world 
wants  to  know  whether  it  possesses  the  means  whereby 
man  may  attain  the  highest  results  in  social  and  political 
development.  We  want  to  know  whether  democracy  is  the 
ideal  form  of  government,  or  whether  men  must  still  look 
for  another.  For  the  presence  of  democracy  by  no  means 
implies  and  guarantees  the  production  of  the  best  results 
in  life  or  in  society.  In  fact,  democracy  may  easily  be- 
come the  curse  of  man,  and  instead  of  diffusing  blessing, 
may  become  a  blight.  The  experience  of  the  past  avails 
us  little  at  this  point,  for  democracy  at  best  is  a  modern 
experiment.  The  fact  is,  popular  government  since  its 
beginnings  in  the  world  has  proved  itself  to  be  exceed- 
ingly fragile  and  uncertain,  and  the  appeal  to  history  is 
not  reassuring.  Thus,  Aristotle,  in  his  lost  book  on 
Republics,  gave  the  history  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
attempts  at  popular  government,  and  all  were  failures. 
Plato  is  distrustful  of  liberty,  and  declares  that  "  while 
the  Persians  may  lose  their  liberty  in  absolute  slavery, 
we  have  lost  it  in  absolute  freedom "  ("  The  Laws," 
Bk.  II).  In  this  experiment  of  popular  government 
the  people  are  launching  forth  upon  an  uncharted  sea, 
in  which  no  shoals  are  indicated  on  the  maps  and  no 
danger  buoys  are  set,  and  withal  a  sea  whose  shores  are 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


I87 


strewn  with  numerous  wrecks.  The  perils  of  democracy 
are  most  real,  and  it  is  folly  to  ignore  them ;  and  it  may 
be  fatal  to  misread  them.  Some  of  these  perils  we  now 
consider : 

I.  The  Peril  of  an  Incompetent  Citizenship.  De- 
mocracy means  the  participation  of  all  the  people  in  the 
affairs  of  government.  It  implies  the  equality  of  all 
men  before  the  law.  It  gives  every  man  a  voice  in  the 
choice  of  leaders,  and  the  enactment  of  laws.  And  thus 
it  implies  the  competency  of  all  to  play  a  part  in 
the  drama  of  progress.  But  one  does  not  need  any 
extended  observation  to  discover  that  all  men  are  not 
by  any  means  equal  in  mental  and  moral  endowment. 
He  does  not  have  to  go  very  far  before  he  finds  that  all 
men  have  neither  the  general  nor  the  special  fitness  for 
good  citizenship.  He  will  find  also  that  many  men  who 
possess  these  general  and  special  qualifications  are  prac- 
tically disbarred  from  public  life  by  causes  which  it  is 
hard  to  overcome.  And  thus  he  is  brought  face  to  face 
with  one  of  the  gravest  dangers  that  besets  the  demo- 
cratic State,  a  danger  so  grave  as  to  imperil  the  very  ex- 
periment itself.  Two  or  three  elements  of  this  problem 
may  be  briefly  noted. 

That  all  men  as  we  find  them  in  the  most  democratic 
State  are  not  fully  qualified  for  the  privilege  of  citizen- 
ship is  manifest.  The  number  of  illiterate  persons  in 
the  American  commonwealths  is  comparatively  small. 
But  the  ability  to  read  and  write  does  not  by  any  means 
imply  the  ability  to  understand  the  functions  of  govern- 
ment. Not  only  so,  but  one  may  possess  a  general  educa- 
tion without  having  any  of  the  special  qualifications  of 
citizenship.  One  may  know  much  about  the  history  of 
Rome  and  yet  be  grossly  ignorant  of  the  life  of  his  own 
community.  One  may  be  well  trained  in  science  and 
literature  without  a  trace  of  civic  intelligence  or  public 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


spirit.  The  fact  is,  the  number  of  people,  even  in  the 
most  advanced  community  who  possess  this  civic  intelli- 
gence and  special  training,  is  comparatively  small.  And 
this  means  that  the  number  of  persons  who  are  qualified 
by  education  and  training  for  the  exercise  of  an  intelli- 
gent citizenship  is  not  large. 

Then,  the  conditions  of  modern  life  make  heavy  de- 
mands upon  the  time  and  strength  of  all  the  people. 
That  we  are  living  in  a  strenuous  age,  with  many  things 
to  engage  our  interest  and  distract  our  attention,  is  con- 
fessed by  all.  But  this  stress  and  strain  are  felt  most 
acutely  by  the  more  intelligent  and  competent  portion  of 
the  community.  The  demands  that  are  made  upon  the 
time  and  energy  of  the  professional  and  business  man  are 
very  heavy,  and  when  these  are  satisfied  there  is  little 
time  or  energy  remaining  for  other  matters.  Thus  the 
men  who  are  best  qualified  both  mentally  and  morally 
for  the  privileges  of  citizenship  are  the  very  men  who 
find  it  difficult  to  fulfil  these  privileges.  It  is  easy  for 
one  to  denounce  all  this  indifference  of  the  people  as 
treason  against  the  State ;  and  it  is  treason  of  the  most 
subtle  and  fatal  kind.  For  the  most  dangerous  people  in 
a  democracy  are  not  the  anarchists  who  seek  to  over- 
throw all  existing  government,  or  the  politicians  who 
seek  to  use  government  for  their  own  ends ;  they  are 
rather  the  so-called  good  men  who  neglect  their  public 
duties  because  of  their  engrossment  in  private  affairs,  and 
will  not  take  the  time  or  the  trouble  to  protest  against 
wrong. 

It  must  be  conceded  that  the  average  citizen  does  not 
possess  either  the  training  or  the  time  to  make  a  first- 
hand study  of  public  questions.  Nor  does  he  possess 
either  the  time  or  the  strength  to  play  the  part  of  a  good 
citizen,  and  devote  himself  to  the  public  good.  The 
struggle  for  existence  is  so  real  to  many  people  that  it  is 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


all  they  can  do — so  they  say — to  manage  their  own 
affairs.  It  is  quite  possible  that  there  are  some  false  ex- 
cuses hidden  in  the  common  reasons ;  but  none  the  less 
there  is  a  difficulty  here  which  no  one  can  overlook. 
It  is  quite  possible  also  that  certain  misconceptions  of 
the  Christian  life  are  responsible  for  some  of  this  indiffer- 
ence to  political  matters.  Our  citizenship  is  in  heaven, 
men  have  said,  and  we  cannot  allow  ourselves  to  be 
distracted  by  the  politics  of  earth.  Thus  it  has  come 
about  that  many  men,  and  these  among  the  most  earnest 
and  conscientious,  have  looked  forth  upon  the  world  of 
politics  as  upon  an  alien  realm,  and  have  had  as  little  to 
do  as  possible  with  such  secular  matters.  This  means  on 
the  one  side  that  the  more  conscientious  men  have  ab- 
jured politics  as  an  alien  interest,  and  the  more  active 
politicians  have  abjured  conscience  as  an  alien  factor. 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  State  must  suffer  under  such 
conditions  and,  in  fact,  the  State  does  suffer. 

II.  The  Danger  of  False  Leadership.  Akin  to  the 
danger  just  considered,  in  a  way  its  corollary  and  in  a 
sense  its  result,  is  another  danger  no  less  real — that 
of  false  leadership.  Democracy  means  the  rule  of  the 
people,  but  democracy  does  not  mean  the  absence  of  all 
leadership.  This  is  not  all,  but  as  society  becomes  more 
complex  the  problems  of  society  become  more  intricate. 
And  expert  leadership  is  demanded  for  the  comprehen- 
sion and  interpretation  of  these  problems.  It  is  all  very 
well  to  say — in  a  Fourth  of  July  oration — that  the  people 
are  sovereign  and  are  all  called  to  be  leaders.  But  the 
hard  fact  remains  that  all  the  people  are  not  qualified  to 
lead,  and  not  all  have  the  sovereign's  spirit. 

The  truth  is,  democracy  is  impatient  of  leadership,  and 
scouts  the  intimation  that  the  people  are  not  qualified 
to  decide  offhand  all  questions.  Do  not  the  people  rule? 
And  do  not  the  people  know?    The  many  are  ready 


190 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


to  resent  the  insinuation  that  they  do  not  know  and 
are  not  qualified  to  lead.  But  now  comes  a  difficulty  that 
constitutes  a  real  peril — the  difficulty  of  obtaining  this 
qualified  leadership. 

In  a  democracy  a  qualified  leadership  is  demanded, 
and  if  a  true  leadership  is  not  found  a  false  leader- 
ship is  forthcoming.  This  false  leadership  manifests 
itself  in  two  ways,  in  the  demagogue  and  the  boss. 

In  his  time  Aristotle  described  the  demagogue 
and  analyzed  the  conditions  which  produced  him, 
and  his  picture  is  as  fresh  as  when  first  limned  in 
old  Athens.  In  every  State  there  are  always  some 
men  who  are  dissatisfied  with  the  existing  order  of 
things,  and  eager  for  a  change  of  some  kind.  Beyond 
the  settled  polity  of  the  State  there  are  many  questions 
open  to  discussion  and  adjudication  by  the  people.  In 
every  society,  be  it  large  or  small,  there  are  some  men — ■ 
soldiers  of  fortune — watching  for  every  opportunity  of 
promoting  their  own  interests  and  of  winning  a  little 
renown.  When  true  leaders  are  wanting — men  who 
combine  a  knowledge  of  the  past  with  a  belief  in  prog- 
ress— false  leaders  are  sure  to  arise — men  whose  only 
qualifications  are  a  brazen  effrontery  and  a  bold  self- 
assertiveness — who  play  the  demagogue  and  appeal  to  the 
lowest  motives  of  the  people.  They  raise  false  issues  and 
becloud  the  real  issues.  They  appeal  to  passion  and 
prejudice  and  sneer  at  higher  motives.  They  make  a 
god  of  expediency  and  look  no  farther  than  the  present 
hour.  They  live  by  compromise  and  flout  high  ideals  as 
idle  dreams.  Such  men  soon  gather  around  themselves  a 
group  of  disciples  and  claquers,  ready  to  catch  the  nod 
and  applaud  every  utterance.  For  men  are  like  sheep, 
ever  ready  to  follow  a  leader  be  he  false  or  true ;  and 
men  are  like  sheep  in  that  they  will  follow  a  leader  in  a 
foolish  as  in  a  wise  course.   And  lo,  the  demagogue  ap- 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


I9I 


pears ;  and  alas  the  people  follow  him ;  and  unfortunately 
the  State  pays  the  forfeit.  Aristotle's  description  of  the 
demagogue  is  true  to  life ;  his  fears  of  the  demagogue 
are  well  founded,  and  his  forecast  of  the  results  is  fully 
realized.  What  Aristotle  so  clearly  foresaw  is  a  real 
and  serious  danger  in  these  modern  times.  A  democracy 
without  expert  guides  presents  an  open  field  for  dema- 
gogues, and  history  shows  that  wherever  the  opportunity 
is  offered  and  the  conditions  are  favorable  such  phe- 
nomena have  appeared. 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  Aristotle  to  our  modern  times, 
but  the  Stagirite's  words  are  as  significant  to-day  as 
when  first  written.  All  later  students  of  democracy 
have  had  to  deal  with  this  phenomenon,  and  all  have  seen 
in  it  a  grave  danger.  Thus  Macaulay,  in  his  celebrated 
letter  on  "  Democracy  in  America,"  clearly  points  out 
the  peril.  To  entrust  the  supreme  authority  in  the  State 
to  a  majority  of  the  voters,  told  by  the  head,  was  to  en- 
trust it  to  the  poorest  and  most  ignorant  portion  of 
society.  He  declared  his  conviction  that  institutions 
purely  democratic  must  sooner  or  later  destroy  liberty  or 
civilization,  or  both.  "  Distress  everywhere  makes  the 
laborer  mutinous  and  discontented,  and  inclines  him  to 
listen  with  eagerness  to  agitators,  who  tell  him  that  it  is 
a  monstrous  iniquity  that  one  man  should  have  a  million 
while  another  cannot  get  a  full  meal."  Government, 
under  such  conditions,  would  never  be  able  to  restrain 
the  distressed  and  discontented  majority  ;  for  in  a  democ- 
racy the  majority  are  the  government,  and  this  majority 
have  the  minority  absolutely  at  their  mercy.  The  time 
will  come  when  we  shall  see  on  one  side  "  a  statesman 
preaching  patience,  respect  for  vested  rights,  strict  ob- 
servance of  public  faith ;  on  the  other,  a  demagogue 
ranting  about  the  tyranny  of  capitalists  and  usurers, 
and  asking  why  anybody  should  be  permitted  to  drink 


192 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


champagne  and  to  ride  in  a  carriage  while  thousands  of 
honest  folks  are  in  want  of  necessaries.  Which  of  the 
two  candidates,"  he  asks,  "  is  likely  to  be  preferred 
by  a  workingman  who  hears  his  children  cry  for  more 
bread?"  (Macaulay,  letter  to  H.  S.  Randall,  1857). 

The  discovery  of  the  men  most  fitted  to  lead  is  one 
of  the  most  difficult  problems  of  every  society.  Take 
two  men  and  let  them  enter  the  race  for  public  office.. 
One  is  a  thinker  and  a  statesman,  who  knows  something 
of  history  and  does  not  expect  the  millennium  to  be  haled 
in  by  any  legislation ;  a  man  who  knows  something  of 
human  nature  and  sees  that  there  are  no  panaceas ;  one 
who  takes  a  broad  view  of  great  questions  and  looks 
beyond  the  merely  low  self-interests  involved  and  con- 
templates all  questions  in  terms  of  the  general  welfare, 
and  withal  a  man  of  real  moral  worth  who  respects  him- 
self too  highly  to  parade  his  own  excellencies  and  to 
employ  meretricious  arguments.  The  other  is  a  self- 
seeker  and  demagogue  who,  because  he  knows  nothing 
of  history,  never  raises  a  question  concerning  any  of 
his  grandiloquent  schemes ;  one  who  ignores  the  general 
welfare  and  construes  all  questions  in  terms  of  personal 
interest,  and  withal  a  man  of  popular  address,  with  the 
gift  of  pleasing  the  gallery  gods,  with  that  shallow  logic 
that  can  make  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason.  One 
needs  little  experience  of  actual  life  to  guess  which  of 
the  two  men  is  more  likely  to  please  the  multitude  and 
secure  their  support  at  the  polls.  The  science  of  poli- 
tics, it  may  be  said,  is  something  more  than  the  ignorance 
of  science ;  and  the  art  of  politics,  it  may  also  be  said,  is 
something  better  than  skill  in  vote  catching. 

Under  this  head  of  False  Leadership  is  another  danger, 
very  much  akin  to  the  one  just  named,  and  no  less 
serious  than  it.  The  demagogue  and  the  boss  together 
constitute  two  grave  dangers  that  beset  democracy. 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


193 


In  modern  society  the  struggle  for  existence  is  keen, 
and  few  men  have  either  the  time  or  the  strength  for 
any  interests  off  the  line  of  their  necessary  tasks.  From 
one  cause  and  another  their  time  and  attention  are  en- 
gaged elsewhere,  and  they  have  little  strength  for  im- 
personal and  public  questions.  For  this  reason  they  are 
all  too  willing  to  delegate  this  work  to  the  men  who  have 
the  time  for  such  matters  and  make  a  business  of  politics. 
In  a  democracy,  government  works  through  the  party 
organization,  and  this  is  more  or  less  inevitable  and 
necessary.  That  there  may  be  unity  of  effort  and  con- 
tinuity of  purpose  there  must  be  a  compact  organization 
with  its  platforms  and  its  managers.  By  an  almost  in- 
evitable gravitation  the  management  of  this  party  organi- 
zation falls  more  and  more  into  the  hands  of  a  few  men. 
And  in  the  final  result  the  party  management  usually 
narrows  down  to  one  man.  These  conditions,  more  or 
less  natural,  and  yet  more  or  less  unforeseen,  have  pro- 
duced a  profession  whose  only  occupation  is  politics. 
Where  the  conditions  are  thus  prepared  in  advance  for 
the  party  leader  and  political  manager,  it  would  be 
strange  indeed  if  this  personage  did  not  appear. 

There  are,  however,  certain  other  influences  and  con- 
ditions which  combine  to  give  this  manager  added  power, 
and  then  tempt  him  to  its  misuse.  One  is  the  selfish 
desire  of  men  to  gain  power,  either  through  the  control 
of  men  or  the  possession  of  wealth.  That  this  position 
as  party  manager  or  political  boss  gives  men  power  is 
known  to  all.  In  many  American  cities  and  States  there 
are  such  leaders  and  bosses  who  possess  more  absolute 
autocratic  power  than  was  ever  enjoyed  by  any  feudal 
baron  or  medieval  king.  That  this  position  of  leader 
or  boss  enables  men  to  accumulate  vast  fortunes  is  also 
known  to  all.  In  these  same  cities  and  States  there  are 
many  rich  men,  sometimes  millionaires,  whose  only  oc- 

N 


194 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


cupation  for  years  has  been  politics.  With  two  such 
powerful  subjective  motives  at  work  it  is  not  strange 
that  some  men  should  yield  to  the  pressure  and  climb  into 
the  chair  of  political  czardom.  The  other  influences  and 
conditions  are  found  in  the  presence  of  great  corpo- 
ration and  special  interests  that  have  some  franchise  to 
seek  or  some  favor  to  secure.  These  corporations  and 
interests  have  found  that  public  franchises  of  one  kind 
and  another  are  priceless  assets,  and  so  they  are  inter- 
ested in  securing  these  exclusive  privileges  for  them- 
selves on  the  most  advantageous  terms. 

There  are  bosses  in  the  cities  and  States  of  America 
who  control .  the  nominal  officers,  and  determine  what 
policies  shall  prevail  and  what  franchises  shall  be  granted. 
They  dictate  nominations  and  determine  platforms ;  they 
control  legislation,  and  say  what  laws  shall  be  enforced ; 
they  set  the  keynote  for  the  press  and  make  and  unmake 
candidates.  There  are  bosses  who  are  dictators  and 
rulers  in  everything  except  name ;  and  while  the  people 
go  through  the  forms  of  ratifying  the  bosses'  wishes  the 
nominal  officers  of  the  State  make  effective  the  bosses' 
demands.  These  bosses,  the  feudal  barons  of  the  modern 
age,  the  virtual  rulers  of  the  people,  lay  heavy  tribute 
upon  society  and  distribute  favors  with  a  free  hand;  they 
are  the  political  middle  men  for  the  lawless  and  criminal 
classes,  whether  members  of  vice  combinations  or  man- 
agers of  grasping  corporations.  And  they  have  ways  of 
making  their  power  felt  in  business  and  social  circles. 
Sometimes  brave  men  fear  to  arouse  their  enmity  and 
good  men  hesitate  to  oppose  their  schemes. 

It  is  true  that  the  people  have  the  means  in  their  own 
hands  whereby  all  this,  which  is  a  travesty  on  true  de- 
mocracy, may  be  ended.  It  is  true  also  that  now  and 
again  the  people  assert  themselves  and  use  these  means. 
Now  and  again  it  happens  that,  stung  to  madness  by 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


195 


a  long  train  of  abuses  pursuing  invariably  the  same  end, 
the  people  arise  in  their  might  and  depose  their  tyrants. 
Sometimes  the  particular  boss  in  power  is  driven  from 
the  throne  forever,  and  sometimes  he  goes  through  the 
form  of  an  abdication  and  bides  his  time.  But  the  causes 
and  conditions  which  produced  the  one,  not  being 
changed  or  removed,  soon  produce  another  and  then  the 
old  system  goes  on  its  way  pursuing  the  same  methods 
and  reaching  the  same  results.  In  many  cases  it  is  found 
that  nothing  less  than  a  moral  earthquake  is  sufficient 
to  dislodge  the  boss;  and  as  such  earthquakes  cannot  be 
produced  every  year,  the  tyrant's  rule  is  practically  un- 
broken. Democracy,  in  its  actual  working,  may  be 
described  as  boss  rule  tempered  by  the  fear  of  revolt. 

And  so  pronounced  and  so  persistent  is  the  tendency 
to  bossism  that  many  thoughtful  men  are  becoming 
distrustful  of  democracy.  The  people  are  not  ready  for 
free  institutions,  and  they  are  too  easily  misled  by  dema- 
gogues. They  must  have  leaders,  and  they  will  have 
leaders.  The  men  who  can  rule  are  presumably  the  men 
most  fitted  to  lead ;  what  is  the  use  in  having  leaders  who 
cannot  rule?  Thus  Lord  Macaulay's  forecast  seems  only 
too  truly  to  be  fulfilling  itself  and  democratic  government 
is  passing  into  eclipse.  He  was  shrewd  enough  to  see 
that  for  a  long  time  to  come  the  vast  majority  of  the 
people  would  not  be  competent  to  pass  an  intelligent 
judgment  on  the  great  and  intricate  questions  of  public 
moment.  He  saw  also  that  leadership  was  both  neces- 
sary and  inevitable,  and  that  all  too  patiently  the  people 
would  accept  the  self-appointed  leadership  of  the  strong 
man  who  came  to  the  front.  Thus  all  unconsciously  the 
people  would  lose  their  democratic  faith  and  spirit,  and 
thus  all  unconsciously  democratic  government  would 
become  a  mere  name. 

All  this  brings  before  us  one  of  those  difficulties  that 


196 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


is  almost  impassable.  Xo  government  can  long  prosper 
without  intelligent  leadership,  and  least  of  all  can  a 
democracy.  But  as  such  leadership  becomes  more  nec- 
essary its  selection  becomes  more  difficult.  In  every 
generation,  as  Carlyle  reminds  us,  Providence  sends  the 
men  who  are  the  ordained  leaders  of  their  fellows.  But 
how  shall  we  discover  these  leaders?  How  shall  we 
discern  the  true  from  the  false?  We  cannot  accept  the 
claims  of  every  self-appointed  leader,  for  such  men  are 
pretty  sure  to  be  demagogues  or  bosses.  It  is  a  day 
of  ill  omen  for  any  nation  when  the  best  people  eschew 
politics  and  refuse  to  seek  public  office.  Government  that 
means  the  reign  of  mediocrity  and  the  rule  of  incom- 
petency cannot  be  pronounced  a  great  success.  But  de- 
mocracy is  exposed  to  danger  at  this  point,  and  no  one 
can  blink  this  danger.  This  is  one  of  the  perils  of 
democracy. 

III.  The  Abuse  of  the  Party  System.  It  is  easy  for 
one  who  is  so  disposed  to  frame  an  indictment  against 
the  entire  system  of  political  parties.  For  every  intel- 
ligent man  knows  that  political  parties  are  often  guilty 
of  great  abuses  and  commit  gross  tyrannies.  But  the 
wiser  course  is  to  understand  the  party  system  and  then 
point  out  the  dangers  that  result  from  its  common  abuse. 
It  may  be  observed  that  what  we  call  political  parties  are 
found  only  in  free  States.  In  an  autocracy  there  may  be 
various  classes  and  factions  more  or  less  opposed  to  one 
another,  and  more  or  less  compact ;  these  classes  and  fac- 
tions may  possess  a  certain  autonomy  in  action,  and  may 
wage  a  constant  struggle  for  supremacy.  But  they  are  not 
political  parties  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term,  and  so 
they  do  not  concern  us  here.  The  fact  is,  political  parties 
exist  only  where  there  is  a  certain  measure  of  political 
freedom  on  the  part  of  the  people.  The  presence  of 
political  parties  in  a  State  shows  that  the  people  are 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


197 


coining  to  political  self-consciousness,  that  they  are  be- 
ginning to  think  on  political  questions  and  are  beginning 
to  trust  one  another ;  and  even  beyond  this  it  shows  that 
the  people  have  some  political  judgments  and  are  seeking 
to  make  their  judgments  effective. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  by  Lieber  that  not  only  are 
political  parties  possible  in  the  free  State,  but  they  are 
always  found  in  every  such  State.  "  I  avow  that,  as  far 
as  my  knowledge  goes,  I  know  of  no  instance  of  a  free 
State  without  parties.  .  .  At  first  sight  it  may  seem 
otherwise,  but  I  believe  there  never  existed  a  free  coun- 
try actively  developing  within  its  bosom  constitutional 
law,  and  feeling  deeply  interested  in  the  great  problems 
of  right  and  public  justice,  in  which  there  were  not  also 
parties  "  (Lieber,  "  Political  Ethics,"  Vol.  II,  p.  254).  In 
the  free  State  where  men  have  begun  to  have  some  voice 
in  the  affairs  of  government,  they  have  begun  to  take  some 
thought  for  the  common  good.  When  any  great  questions 
arise  in  political  life,  men  take  sides  as  by  a  kind  of  natural 
gravitation.  Some  men  will  be  progressive  and  some 
conservative;  some  will  fear  centralization  and  others 
favor  it ;  many  will  believe  in  tariffs,  while  others  will 
oppose  them ;  some  will  plead  for  a  wider  social  control 
and  some  will  fear  it  as  a  new  slavery.  It  is  natural 
and  necessary  for  those  who  think  alike  on  important 
political  questions  to  seek  one  another  out  and  form 
themselves  into  a  party.  Wherever  there  is  free  action 
of  whatever  sort,  political,  scientific,  religious,  social, 
and  wherever  men  have  some  common  ends  in  view  and 
are  interested  in  seeking  those  ends,  there  we  find  those 
who  will  unite  in  some  degree  and  combine  their  efforts. 
Without  such  unions,  as  Lieber  shows,  it  would  be  as 
impossible  in  many  cases  to  remove  some  impediments  in 
the  course  of  civilization  as  without  a  union  of  forces 
it  would  be  to  remove  some  physical  obstacle. 


198 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


And  once  more,  not  only  is  it  natural  for  parties  to 
exist  in  the  free  State,  but  it  is  desirable.  The  larger 
the  State  and  the  greater  the  number  of  citizens,  the 
less  individual  action  counts  and  the  more  concerted 
action  weighs.  It  is  only  by  collective  action  that  the 
one  man  can  make  the  most  of  himself.  It  is  only 
by  a  kind  of  united  voice  that  men  can  make  themselves 
heard  in  the  great  mass.  This  is  not  all,  for  "  without 
parties  there  could  be  no  loyal,  steady,  lasting,  and 
effective  opposition,  one  of  the  surest  safeguards  of 
public  peace"  (Lieber,  ibid.,  p.  254,  255).  In  the  light 
of  all  the  facts  we  may  conclude  that  political  parties 
are  not  only  possible  in  the  free  State,  but  they  are 
necessary  and  desirable. 

It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  the  party  system 
is  liable  to  great  abuses,  and  political  parties  expose 
themselves  and  subject  others  to  grave  dangers.  In 
fact,  the  abuses  of  the  party  system  are  so  grievous 
and  so  common  that  the  system  itself  may  be  considered 
as  one  of  the  serious  dangers  of  the  democratic  State. 
Several  of  these  are  too  patent  and  too  potent  to  pass 
unnoticed. 

There  is  first  of  all  the  danger  of  faction  and  narrow- 
ness. A  party  represents  a  part,  and  not  the  whole ; 
its  members  may  believe  most  implicitly  in  its  creed,  but 
they  do  not  profess  to  compass  all  truth.  A  party  to 
maintain  itself  must  build  party  fences,  and  it  must  have 
its  platforms  and  its  programmes.  All  this  exposes  men 
to  the  danger  of  narrowness.  The  man  who  builds  a 
fence  fences  out  a  great  deal  more  than  he  fences  in.  A 
party,  by  the  nature  of  the  case,  is  an  opportunist ;  it 
cannot  pretend  to  represent  all  issues  and  to  push  all  re- 
forms. And  in  so  doing  it  runs  the  danger  of  becoming 
exclusive  and  of  building  party  fences.  The  issues  it 
advocates  are  believed  to  be  important,  and  all  other 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


199 


issues  are  either  non-existent  or  are  wholly  negligible. 
It  follows  that  all  who  are  found  within  a  particular 
fold  are  regarded  as  being  in  the  right,  while  all  other 
people  are  flouted  as  being  in  the  wrong.  The  party 
that  makes  its  own  success  and  honor  the  supreme  con- 
cern has  degenerated  from  a  party  into  a  faction.  The 
fact  that  a  thing  is  done  solely  for  the  sake  of  a  party 
is  a  reason  for  not  doing  it  at  all. 

Akin  to  this,  and  growing  out  of  it,  is  the  danger  of 
excessive  party  zeal.  In  his  farewell  address,  President 
Washington,  in  prophetic  words,  confessed  his  solicitude 
for  the  future  of  his  country,  and  one  of  the  chief 
dangers  that  he  foresaw  was  this  very  danger  of  the 
partisan  spirit.  Several  counts  in  the  indictment  of  the 
party  system  may  be  noted,  for  time  has  justified  the 
fear  of  Washington.  The  unity  of  government  he  saw 
was  necessary  to  the  success  of  the  democratic  experi- 
ment ;  "  it  is  the  main  pillar  in  the  edifice  of  real  independ- 
ence; it  is  the  support  of  your  tranquillity  at  home  and 
your  peace  abroad,  of  your  safety,  of  your  prosperity,  of 
that  liberty  which  you  so  highly  prize."  The  name 
American  belongs  to  the  people  in  their  national  ca- 
pacity, and  it  must  always  exalt  the  just  pride  of 
patriotism  more  than  any  appellation  derived  from  local 
discriminations.  Since  this  is  so,  nothing  could  be  more 
unfortunate  and  calamitous  than  for  the  people  to  divide 
along  the  lines  of  section  or  of  class.  To  do  this  is  to  be 
faithless  to  the  common  good  and  to  jeopardize  the  very 
republic  itself.  United  the  people  stand,  but  divided  they 
must  fall. 

Through  excessive  zeal  for  party  the  party  out  of  power 
for  the  time  takes  up  the  attitude  of  opposition  to  the 
party  in  power,  and  does  everything  possible  to  discount 
and  hinder  it.  This  opposition  party  seeks  to  make  the 
government  as  inefficient  as  possible,  and  blocks  the 


200 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


way  for  much  remedial  legislation.  When  any  important 
measure  is  brought  forward,  its  probable  effect  upon 
the  party's  success  is  the  first  consideration.  Of  course, 
there  are  times  when  men  forget  that  they  are  partisans 
and  remember  that  they  are  citizens,  but  too  often  men 
are  partisans  first  and  citizens  afterward.  In  view  of 
the  marked  and  manifest  tendencies  of  the  party  spirit 
to  run  to  excess,  an  effort  should  be  made  by  force  of 
public  opinion  to  mitigate  and  assuage  it.  "  A  fire  not 
to  be  quenched,  it  demands  a  uniform  vigilance  to  pre- 
vent its  bursting  into  a  flame,  lest  instead  of  warming  it 
should  consume." 

The  other  danger  that  may  be  mentioned  is  what  may 
be  called  the  tyranny  of  party,  and  this  is  one  of  the 
most  flagrant  abuses  conceivable.  Self-preservation,  ac- 
cording to  the  party  creed,  is  the  first  law  of  life.  Regu- 
larity and  obedience  are  the  chief  virtues,  while  inde- 
pendence and  unsubmissiveness  are  the  fatal  vices.  Men 
are  discouraged  to  think  for  themselves,  and  are  bidden 
to  think  within  the  circle  of  the  party's  creed.  Men  who 
will  not  accept  this  dictation  are  regarded  with  sus- 
picion, and  are  often  made  to  feel  the  heavy  hand  of  the 
party's  displeasure.  There  are  communities  in  America 
where  political  independence  is  almost  equivalent  to 
commercial  suicide.  The  average  newspaper  is  more  or 
less  the  organ  of  a  political  party,  and  all  goes  well  with 
that  paper  so  long  as  its  editor  is  regular  and  submissive. 
But  everything  goes  ill  the  moment  it  shows  any  inde- 
pendence. The  public  printing  is  a  big  item,  and  since 
the  party  managers  control  the  government,  the  favors 
of  the  government  go  to  the  men  who  are  in  the  favor 
of  the  party.  Then  the  government  has  a  financial  side, 
and  thus  comes  into  close  contact  with  the  banks  of  the 
State.  This  public  business  is  a  valuable  item  to  many 
bankers,  and  this  gives  the  party  managers  a  means  of 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


20 1 


control  that  is  most  subtle  and  yet  most  potent.  In  some 
of  the  American  States  this  party  control  is  most  rigid; 
so  rigid  in  fact  that  the  official  in  any  bank  who  is 
politically  insubordinate  may  endanger  the  very  pros- 
perity of  the  bank  itself.  In  actual  working  the  party 
machine  is  a  kind  of  political  inquisition  for  suppressing 
independence  of  thought  and  for  preserving  a  peaceful 
uniformity. 

From  one  cause  and  another  it  has  come  about  that  the 
party  system  has  imperiled  democratic  government  and 
nullified  its  essential  principles.  In  the  most  democratic 
lands  the  party  system  is  most  developed,  and  everywhere 
its  pernicious  influence  is  felt.  For  a  century  and  more 
the  government  in  America  has  been  little  else  than  a 
government  by  party ;  and  while  democracy  in  America 
has  not  by  any  means  failed,  it  has  not  yet  fully  suc- 
ceeded. Through  the  excesses  of  the  party  spirit,  class 
has  been  pitted  against  class  and  section  has  been  arrayed 
against  section.  Because  of  this  system  of  government 
by  party  representatives,  government  has  not  had  its 
perfect  working,  and  men  have  become  distrustful  of 
their  legislatures.  De  Laveleye  has  said  that  the  parlia- 
mentary system  is  working  defectively  everywhere ;  and 
more  than  once,  as  we  know,  there  have  been  deadlocks 
in  Congress  and  in  legislatures  that  have  been  little  else 
than  national  scandals. 

IV.  The  Tyranny  of  the  Multitude.  Democracy  has 
often  been  called  government  by  public  opinion,  and 
in  a  way  the  title  is  an  accurate  description.  Public 
opinion  in  a  democracy  decides  many  issues,  and  law 
itself  is  little  else  than  such  opinion  formulated.  What 
then  is  this  public  opinion,  and  what  are  its  effects? 

In  a  letter  written  in  1820,  Sir  Robert  Peel  speaks  in 
a  doubtful  way  of  "  that  great  compound  of  folly,  weak- 
ness, prejudice,  wrong  feeling,  right  feeling,  obstinacy, 


202 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


and  newspaper  paragraphs,  which  is  called  public  opin- 
ion "  (Quoted  by  Bryce,  "American  Commonwealth," 
Vol  II,  p.  217).  The  formation  of  this  public  opinion 
is  so  well  described  by  James  Bryce  in  his  great  study 
that  one  need  do  little  more  than  merely  summarize  his 
argument.  All  the  time  in  a  free  State  public  questions 
are  coming  into  notice  as  part  and  parcel  of  the  natural 
order  of  things.  Through  the  newspapers,  in  the  news 
columns,  and  in  the  editorial  pages,  these  things  are  dis- 
cussed, and  certain  opinions  are  expressed.  Back  and 
forth  these  questions  are  debated  in  the  newspapers  and 
by  the  citizens  generally,  and  in  course  of  time  men  come 
to  some  more  or  less  definite  conclusions  with  respect 
to  these  issues.  But  since  men  are  in  the  habit  of  view- 
ing all  things  in  the  light  of  their  previous  opinions,  it 
follows  that  their  conclusions  with  respect  to  these  ques- 
tions are  determined,  often  unconsciously  enough,  by 
their  present  views  and  their  party  affiliations.  Thus 
men's  conclusions  arrange  themselves  into  groups  and 
circles  in  pretty  close  agreement  with  their  party  doc- 
trines and  their  settled  views.  Last  of  all  we  come  to  the 
stage  of  action  when  men  are  called  to  put  their  opinions 
into  votes  and  crystallize  them  in  public  policies.  But 
the  average  man  is  a  member  of  a  party,  and  being  such, 
he  falls  in  with  his  party's  platform  and  stifles  any  doubt 
or  repulsions  he  may  feel.  This  platform,  it  may  be  said, 
represents  the  resultant  opinion,  and  from  it  all  indi- 
vidual opinion  has  been  rigidly  excluded.  The  men 
whose  opinions  are  thus  formed  are  then  taken  to  the 
polls,  and  "  Bringing  men  up  to  the  polls  is  like  passing 
a  steam  roller  over  stones  newly  laid  on  a  road ;  the 
angularities  are  pressed  down,  and  an  appearance  of 
smoothness  and  even  uniformity  is  given  which  did  not 
exist  before.  When  a  man  has  voted,  he  is  committed ; 
he  has  therefore  an  interest  in  backing  the  view  which 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY  203 

he  has  sought  to  make  prevail.  Moreover,  opinion, 
which  may  have  been  manifold  till  the  polling,  is  there- 
after generally  twofold  only.  There  is  a  view  which 
has  triumphed,  and  a  view  which  has  been  vanquished  " 
(Bryce,  ibid.,  p.  211). 

On  the  surface  this  process  seems  natural  and  harmless 
enough,  but  it  has  another  side  which  is  less  innocent  and 
auspicious.  In  fact,  in  this  whole  process,  both  in  its 
methods  and  its  results,  there  are  dangers  that  are  most 
subtle  and  serious ;  in  fact,  they  are  dangers  that  threaten 
the  higher  life  of  the  people  and  make  democracy  little 
else  than  a  name.  The  forms  of  liberty  may  not  by  any 
means  insure  the  essence  of  liberty ;  government  by  pub- 
lic opinion  may  easily  mean  the  suppression  of  each  man's 
higher  personality,  and  the  policies  made  by  public  opinion 
may  be  a  kind  of  Procrustes'  bed  that  seeks  to  reduce  all 
men  to  the  same  stature.  Careful  thinkers  in  political 
science  have  seen  this  danger  and  have  expressed  their 
fears  in  no  uncertain  way.  There  are  several  angles  at 
which  this  tyranny  of  the  multitude  may  affect  men. 

For  one  thing  the  fear  of  the  multitude  may  so  affect 
men  in  public  office  as  to  destroy  their  own  initiative. 
According  to  the  theory  of  representative  government, 
men  are  chosen  to  public  office  that  they  may  represent 
the  people  and  may  take  thought  for  the  common  welfare. 
These  men  are  representatives,  it  is  true,  but  they  are  also 
men,  and  are  supposed  always  to  use  their  own  best 
judgment  in  the  determination  of  all  policies.  These 
men  are  to  act  as  experts,  to  consider  all  questions  in 
the  light  of  truth,  and  then  to  frame  their  conclusions 
into  statutes.  But,  as  every  one  knows  who  is  at 
all  acquainted  with  the  tendencies  in  democratic  lands, 
representative  government  is  breaking  down  at  this  point, 
and  the  representative  is  dwindling  from  a  human  repre- 
sentative into  an  impersonal  agent.    In  practically  every 


204 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


case  he  is  nominated  and  elected  as  the  exponent  of  his 
party,  and  he  is  supposed  to  have  just  one  mission,  and 
that  the  execution  of  the  party's  will.  To  be  nominated 
and  elected  he  must  often  suppress  his  own  convictions 
and  must  voice  the  party's  opinion ;  in  fact,  the  average 
candidate  finds  that  strong  convictions  are  a  handicap,  and 
mediocre  views  are  most  acceptable.  It  is  easy  to  see 
that  under  such  conditions  honest  convictions  are  at  a 
discount,  expert  knowledge  receives  scant  consideration, 
and  men  who  should  be  brave  and  far-sighted  leaders  be- 
come timid  and  abject  followers.  There  are  many  ways 
in  which  man  may  be  enchained,  as  there  are  many 
ways  in  which  his  manhood  may  be  dishonored.  There 
are  chains  for  the  body  and  there  are  fetters  for  the 
mind,  and  while  the  latter  may  be  less  heavy  than  the 
former,  they  may  be  even  more  tyrannous.  The  fear 
of  the  tyrant's  whip  may  be  dreadful  enough,  but  the 
fear  of  the  mob's  frown  may  be  more  dreadful  still. 
Just  here  we  see  one  of  the  most  subtle  dangers  of 
democracy. 

In  his  splendid  plea  for  liberty  John  Stuart  Mill  ex- 
pressed the  fear  that  democracy  may  come  to  mean  the 
suppression  of  the  finer  and  higher  qualities  of  mankind. 
The  will  of  the  people  may  not  mean  self-government  by 
each  for  the  sake  of  all,  but  it  may  mean  the  government 
of  each  by  all  the  rest.  "  The  will  of  the  people,  more- 
over, practically  means  the  will  of  the  most  numerous 
or  the  most  active  part  of  the  people;  the  majority, 
or  those  who  succeed  in  making  themselves  accepted 
as  the  majority;  the  people,  consequently,  may  desire 
to  oppress  a  part  of  their  number,  and  precautions 
are  as  much  needed  against  this  as  against  any 
other  abuse  of  power"  (Mill,  "On  Liberty,"  Introduc- 
tory). This  tyranny  of  the  majority  may  operate 
through  public  authorities,  but  it  is  not  by  any  means 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


205 


confined  to  such  means.  Society  has  its  own  ways  of 
executing  its  mandates,  and  "  if  it  issues  wrong  mandates 
instead  of  right  or  any  mandates  at  all  in  things  with 
which  it  ought  not  to  meddle,  it  practises  a  social  tyranny 
more  formidable  than  many  kinds  of  political  oppression, 
since  though  not  usually  upheld  by  such  extreme  penal- 
ties, it  leaves  fewer  means  of  escape,  penetrating  much 
more  deeply  into  the  details  of  life,  and  enslaving  the 
soul  itself." 

This  is  not  all,  but  in  a  democracy  where  the  will  of 
the  people  decides  all  issues  there  is  a  temptation  to 
make  the  voice  of  the  majority  the  arbiter  of  all  ques- 
tions and  the  master  of  all  consciences.  The  person  is 
made  to  believe  that  what  the  majority  wills  is  legal, 
and  he  is  tempted  to  believe  that  it  is  also  right  and  its 
decision  is  the  end  of  all  controversy.  Thus  the  one 
man  is  made  distrustful  of  his  own  thought  and  is  con- 
strained to  accept  the  common  opinion  as  final  truth. 
This  begets  in  the  individual  a  sense  of  helplessness. 
Feeling  his  isolation,  the  man  is  tempted  to  abandon  his 
cause  as  hopeless  and  submit  quietly  to  the  dictum  of 
the  majority.  He  may  be  persuaded  that  he  is  right 
and  the  majority  are  wrong,  but  the  fatalistic  idea  that 
the  majority  makes  right  and  hence  cannot  be  withstood, 
proves  too  strong,  and  he  drifts  with  the  crowd.  He  is 
but  one  among  ten  million,  a  drop  in  the  ocean,  a  mote 
in  the  breeze;  and  at  best  his  influence  is  small,  though 
his  horizon  may  be  wide.  After  all  what  can  one  man 
do?  There  is  thus  a  pressure  upon  the  individual  to 
yield  to  the  decree  of  fate — the  decision  of  the  majority — 
and  either  abandon  his  convictions  or  hold  them  as  a 
purely  personal  matter — which  is  the  usual  course. 

But  this  is  not  all,  for  in  a  democracy  men  work  on 
the  assumption  that  what  the  majority  decrees  is  right 
and  must  be  obeyed.   The  majority  may  so  believe  in  its 


206 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


power  and  in  its  right  to  do  as  it  pleases  as  to  ignore  the 
rights  of  the  minority  and  to  tyrannize  over  them.  The 
sovereign  people  may  become  the  worst  kind  of  a  tyrant. 
The  majority  may  ride  rough-shod  over  the  minority, 
and  may  traverse  some  of  their  most  sacred  rights.  The 
voice  of  the  people  may  decide  the  fate  of  a  man  or 
an  issue,  but  the  voice  of  the  people  may  not  always 
be  the  voice  of  God.  The  decree  of  the  multitude  that 
does  not  represent  the  reasoned  judgment  and  rational 
will  of  men  may  be  as  tyrannical  and  brutal  as  the 
arbitrary  preference  and  irrational  will  of  the  most  irre- 
sponsible autocrat.  Numbers  do  not  make  right,  though 
democracies  are  prone  to  this  belief.  The  fact  is,  minor- 
ities have  rights  which  must  be  considered  and  conserved 
no  less  than  those  of  the  majority.  Wendell  Phillips  has 
declared  in  vigorous  language  that  the  State  which  does 
not  protect  the  weakest  and  lowliest  member  against  the 
assumptions  and  aggressions  of  the  many  and  the  strong 
is  no  better  than  a  gang  of  robbers.  The  one  great  end 
of  government  is  the  protection  of  the  weak  against  the 
strong,  and  the  government  that  fails  here  fails  in  its 
first  function.  Governments,  whether  monarchical  or 
democratic,  become  a  plague  and  a  curse  when  they 
override  the  person  of  any  and  sacrifice  the  rights  and 
sanctities  of  the  minorities  to  the  wishes  or  the  interests 
of  the  majority. 

There  is  a  still  lower  and  more  brutal  form  of  this 
tyranny  of  the  multitude  that  is  seen  in  what  may  be 
called  the  mob  mind.  This  phenomenon  has  been  so  well 
described  by  my  friend,  Prof.  E.  A.  Ross,  that  I  summa- 
rize his  argument.  "  In  observing  social  life  among 
animals  one  is  struck  by  the  contagion  of  feeling  in  a 
herd  or  flock.  Whatever  the  feeling  called  up,  whether 
terror,  hostility  to  a  stranger,  rage  at  hereditary  enemies, 
or  sympathy  for  a  stricken  fellow,  all  the  members  of  the 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY  20J 

group  feel  it,  and  feel  it  at  once.  .  .  The  human  analogue 
to  the  agitated  herd  is  the  mob."  And  the  human  ana- 
logue to  this  contagion  of  feeling  in  the  flock  is  what 
may  be  called  the  mob  mind.  "  For  purposes  of  social 
psychology  a  mob  may  be  defined  as  a  '  crowd  of  people 
showing  a  unanimity  due  to  mental  contagion.'  "  Ana- 
lyzing the  characteristics  of  this  mob  we  find  that  it 
shows  a  one-mindedness,  the  result  not  of  reasoning  or 
discussion  or  coming  together  of  the  like-minded,  but  of 
imitation.  That  it  is  excited  goes  almost  without  saying, 
and  that  it  is  both  fickle  and  irrational  naturally  follows. 
In  this  mob  the  mass  is  all  potent  and  the  individual  con- 
tracts to  a  mere  point  of  contagion,  and  all  that  he  can 
do  is  to  go  with  the  crowd  and  add  to  its  momentum. 
Changing  the  figure  we  may  say  that  the  leader  is  like 
the  bellweather  of  the  flock :  when  he  stamps  and  shows 
excitement  the  flock  does  the  same ;  when  he  runs  and 
leaps  at  something  or  nothing  every  sheep  follows.  (Ross, 
"The  Foundations  of  Sociology."  chap.  v). 

There  are  certain  tendencies  and  conditions  in  modern 
society  which  expose  government  to  dangers  from  this 
mob  mind.  One  is  the  marked  drift  cityward,  which  is 
so  characteristic  of  recent  times.  This  massing  of  men  in 
cities  has  a  peculiar  danger  for  democracy  in  that  it  has 
a  peculiar  tendency  to  develop  the  mob  mind.  In  the  city 
people  are  brought  close  together,  and  where  elbows 
touch  heat  is  soon  generated.  Then  the  intense  life  of 
the  city  tends  to  produce  nervous  disorders,  the  peculiar 
malady  of  city  dwellers.  All  this  furnishes  the  very  con- 
ditions that  produce  all  the  qualities  of  the  mob  mind. 
"  In  fact,  if  we  translate  these  qualities  into  public  policy, 
we  have  the  chief  counts  in  the  indictment  which  historians 
have  drawn  against  the  city  democracies  of  old  Greece, 
and  medieval  Italy"  (Ross,  ibid.,  p.  106). 

The  other  condition  that  may  be  named  as  exposing 


208 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


government  to  danger  at  this  point  is  the  possession  of 
the  franchise  by  the  least  intelligent  portion  of  the 
people.  All  students  of  political  history  have  recog- 
nized a  distinction  between  true  and  false  democracy, 
and  the  distinction  is  a  vital  one.  The  true  democ- 
racy really  represents  the  people,  but  it  recognizes  that 
there  are  other  elements  than  numbers  alone.  It 
is  true  democracy  because  it  recognizes  the  natural  in-^ 
equalities  of  men  and  accords  to  worth  its  natural  leader- 
ship in  the  State.  The  false  democracy  with  its  equal 
voting,  we  are  warned  is  in  principle  wrong,  and 
it  has  dangers  which  cannot  be  minimized.  There  is 
grave  danger  to  the  State  when  government  is  exposed 
to  the  caprice  and  contagion  of  the  least  intelligent  but 
most  numerous  portion  of  the  community.  There  is  a  se- 
rious menace  to  real  democracy  when  the  people  most  sub- 
ject to  the  sway  of  the  mob  mind  exist  in  great  number. 
Thus  Professor  von  Seybel,  in  his  "  History  of  the 
Revolutionary  Period,"  is  well  warranted  in  his  distrust 
of  the  Rousseau  theory,  which  is  incarnate  in  false 
democracy,  and  which  "  raises  to  the  throne,  not  the 
reason  which  is  common  to  all  men,  but  the  aggregate 
of  universal  passions." 

These  dangers  in  their  various  forms  of  manifestation 
are  most  real  and  subtle,  and  their  menace  to  the  very 
idea  and  ideal  of  democracy  can  hardly  be  exaggerated. 
In  a  society  where  the  political  temper  prevails  and 
opinions  are  settled  by  a  show  of  hands,  a  continual  pres- 
sure of  temptation  is  upon  men.  In  such  a  society  the 
suppression  of  one's  true  opinions  and  the  profession  of 
the  popular  false  opinion  is  hardly  counted  a  vice  at  all ; 
not  seldom,  indeed,  it  passes  for  solid  wisdom  and  high 
virtue.  The  art  of  politics,  which  is  one  of  the  highest 
of  all  arts  when  honestly  pursued,  but  the  meanest  of 
all  arts  when  selfishly  perverted,  is  thus  in  danger  of 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


209 


becoming  one  of  the  meanest  and  most  unworthy.  In  a 
society  where  the  political  temper  prevails  it  is  so  easy  to 
go  with  the  crowd  and  accept  the  verdict  of  the  majority 
as  the  final  word.  In  such  a  society  "  thoroughness  is 
a  mistake,  and  nailing  your  flag  to  the  mast  a  bit  of  de- 
lusive heroics.  Think  wholly  of  the  day  and  not  at  all 
of  to-morrow.  Beware  the  high  and  hold  fast  to  the  safe. 
Dismiss  conviction  and  study  general  consensus.  No 
zeal,  no  faith,  no  intellectual  trenchancy,  but  as  much  low- 
minded  geniality  and  trivial  complaisance  as  you  please  " 
(Morley,  "On  Compromise,"  p.  21).  It  is  always  very 
difficult,  and  often  it  is  dangerous  to  rise  above  the  dust 
of  the  caravan  and  direct  one's  course  by  the  unchanging 
stars ;  and  it  is  sometimes  doubly  difficult  and  dangerous 
in  a  democratic  society.  It  requires  nothing  less  than  a 
superb  moral  courage  for  a  man  to  be  loyal  to  his  best 
ideals  and  to  speak  his  own  convictions ;  for  it  is  so  easy 
and  often  so  popular  to  go  with  the  crowd  and  shout  the 
common  faith.  And  such  moral  courage  is  especially 
needed  in  a  democratic  government ;  for  without  such 
superb  courage  the  unpopular  protest  may  not  be  spoken 
and  the  new  ideal  may  not  be  uplifted. 

It  is  needless,  perhaps,  to  say  that  in  speaking  in  this 
way  of  the  dangers  of  democracy  we  are  not  by  any 
means  distrustful  of  the  democracy  itself,  and  have  no 
desire  to  exchange  it  for  some  other  form  of  government. 
The  fact  is,  if  such  an  exchange  were  even  contemplated 
one  does  not  know  what  form  of  government  he  could 
possibly  choose  in  preference.  And  yet  it  may  be  well 
for  us  to  consider  these  dangers  of  democracy,  that  we 
may  be  on  our  guard  against  them.  It  is  but  fair  that  in 
a  discussion  of  democracy  its  perils  and  disadvantages 
should  be  set  side  by  side  with  some  of  its  advantages 
and  blessings.  For  the  forms  of  liberty  may  not  by  any 
means  guarantee  the  essence  of  liberty ;  the  tyranny  of  the 
o 


210 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


many  may  be  but  tbe  tyranny  of  one  writ  large.  Under 
the  appeals  of  the  demagogue  and  the  sway  of  passion  the 
people  may  be  aroused  to  action,  and  a  majority  may  easily 
be  found  in  favor  of  certain  proposed  measures ;  and  thus 
government  may  utterly  fail  to  protect  the  one  against 
the  many,  and  to  guarantee  to  each  citizen  the  full  exer- 
cise of  his  rights  to  life,  liberty,  the  pursuit  of  happiness, 
and  the  privilege  of  thought. 

V.  A  False  Conception  of  the  State.  A  danger  more 
real  and  more  subtle  than  any  thus  far  considered  is  the 
danger  that  grows  out  of  a  false  conception  of  the  State 
itself.  That  is,  in  a  democratic  State,  there  is  a  danger 
lest  the  State  be  regarded  as  a  mere  human  contrivance, 
to  be  honored  when  it  serves  men's  purposes  and  to  be 
set  aside  when  it  does  not  suit  their  wishes.  And  there 
is  a  danger  lest  law,  which  represents  the  will  of  the 
majority,  shall  lose  all  high  meaning  and  majesty  and 
shall  become  the  mere  plaything  of  opposing  interests. 

The  social  contract  theory  of  the  State  has  played  a  large 
part  in  the  political  thinking  of  the  last  century  and  a  half, 
and  its  course  is  not  by  any  means  fully  run.  This  theory 
teaches  that  the  individual  is  by  nature  free  and  inde- 
pendent, possessed  of  rights  which  are  older  than  society 
and  anterior  to  government.  By  his  own  voluntary  con- 
sent this  man  contracts  himself  out  of  this  condition  of 
freedom  into  political  relations,  and  this  compact  of  the 
original  members  must  be  renewed  from  generation  to 
generation.  The  government  that  is  created  possesses 
no  higher  validity  and  authority  than  this  social  compact ; 
it  exists  for  the  sake  of  individuals,  and  they  who  create 
the  government  and  make  its  laws,  can  unmake  the  State 
and  repeal  its  laws.  In  theory  this  means  that  the  people 
are  the  source  of  law,  and  whatever  the  people  decide  is 
both  legal  and  right.  "  Political  philosophy,"  said  M. 
Gambetta,  in  a  famous  speech,  "  demands  that  the  people 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


211 


be  considered  as  the  exclusive,  the  perennial  source  of  all 
powers,  of  all  rights.  The  will  of  the  people  must  have 
the  last  word.  All  must  bow  before  it."  This  doctrine, 
that  the  evershifting  will  of  the  masses  is  the  very  source 
and  fount  of  right,  of  law,  of  justice,  is  the  expression 
in  the  public  order  of  the  agnostic  theory  of  the  State. 
Napoleon  was  but  voicing  this  theory  in  his  own  way 
when  he  declared :  "  With  the  armies  of  France  at  my 
back  I  shall  always  be  in  the  right." 

The  social  contract  theory  of  the  State  has  been 
abandoned  by  every  political  thinker  of  any  note.  But, 
though  utterly  discounted  by  philosophers,  it  is  the  prac- 
tical working  principle  in  the  political  life  of  many  na- 
tions. The  political  faith  of  democratic  nations  teaches 
that  what  the  majority  wills  is  right ;  that  right  and  wrong 
are  determined  by  counting  ballots ;  that  government  is 
here  to  serve  the  interests  of  its  individual  members,  and 
that  each  man  is  free  to  use  government  in  whatever 
way  will  best  serve  his  own  personal  interests.  The 
people  have  repudiated  the  idea  of  a  Lawmaker,  whose 
will  is  supreme;  they  have  denied  the  old  fiction  of  the 
divine  right  of  kings ;  they  have  cast  off  all  human  head- 
ship over  the  State  and  have  assumed  the  sovereignty 
themselves.  The  throne,  the  scepter,  the  crown  have  been 
swept  away,  and  the  people  have  declared  that  they  are 
the  exclusive  and  perennial  source  of  all  powers  and  all 
rights. 

This  theory,  though  discounted  in  theory  and  followed 
in  practice,  is  most  baleful  in  its  effects  and  most  danger- 
ous to  the  State.  For  one  thing,  the  effect  of  this  theory 
in  practice  is  to  derationalize,  to  demoralize,  to  dissolve, 
and  to  destroy  society  itself.  "  It  derationalizes,  for  it  is 
fatal  to  the  belief  that  reason  pervades  the  universe ; 
reason  means  something  self-identical  and  independent. 
It  demoralizes,  for  morality  if  not  absolute,  is  nothing. 


212 


THE  CHRISTIAN"  STATE 


It  dissolves,  for  the  bonds  of  society  are  ethical.  It 
destroys,  for  if  those  bonds  are  loosed,  fall  the  social 
system  must"  (Lilly,  "The  Ethics  of  Politics,"  "The 
Forum,"  June.  1889).  "  For  practical  purposes,"  says 
Bluntschli,  "  this  doctrine  is  in  the  highest  degree  danger- 
ous, since  it  makes  the  State  and  its  institutions  the 
product  of  individual  caprice,  and  declares  it  to  be 
changeable  according  to  the  will  of  the  individuals  then 
living.  It  is  to  be  considered,  therefore,  a  theory  of 
anarchy,  rather  than  a  political  doctrine  "  ("  The  Theory 
of  the  State,"  Bk.  IV,  chap.  ix).  And  another  acute 
thinker  has  said :  "  The  modern  State  is  founded  on 
the  philosophy  of  atomism.  Nationality,  public  spirit, 
tradition,  national  manners,  disappear  like  so  many  hol- 
low and  worn-out  entities ;  nothing  remains  to  create 
movement  but  the  action  of  molecular  forces  and  of  dead 
weight.  In  such  a  theory  liberty  is  identified  with  caprice, 
and  the  collective  reason  and  age-long  tradition  of  an  old 
society  are  nothing  more  than  soap  bubbles  which  the 
smallest  urchin  may  shiver  with  a  snap  of  the  fingers  " 
(Amiel,  "  Journal."  March  20,  1865).  No  wonder  that 
Carlyle  should  call  all  this  a  doctrine  of  atheism,  and 
should  fear  it  for  its  practical  effects. 

To-day  the  democratic  State  is  most  seriously  threat- 
ened by  this  agnostic  theory  of  the  State.  This  theory 
has  done  much  to  mislead  the  minds  of  men,  and  it  is 
doing  much  to-day  to  undermine  the  whole  meaning  of 
law.  In  this  theory  right  and  wrong  are  the  product  of 
ballot  boxes.  Civil  law  is  the  generalization  of  experi- 
ence and  the  will  of  the  majority.  Right  is  the  bal- 
ancing of  expediencies  and  the  compromise  of  inter- 
ests. Now  right  and  wrong,  it  is  perhaps  needless  to  say, 
cannot  be  created  in  any  ballot  boxes.  Woe  unto  that 
people  who  have  no  infinite  standard  of  right.  Woe  to 
that  people  who  regard  law  as  the  mere  will  of  the  ma- 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


213 


jority.  Woe  to  that  people  who  see  behind  the  officer 
of  State  no  higher  authority  than  a  written  statute.  Such 
a  people  are  on  the  high  road  to  political  corruption  and 
tyranny;  worse  still,  they  are  drifting  on  the  rocks  of 
anarchy  and  chaos.  To  regard  law  in  this  low  way,  to  see 
back  of  the  civil  statute  nothing  but  the  interests  of  a 
class  or  the  will  of  the  majority — than  this  nothing  can 
be  more  ominous  to  the  eye  of  truth  or  more  offensive 
to  heaven.  If  men  are  free  to  make  what  laws  they  please, 
why  may  they  not  be  free  to  break  what  laws  they  do  not 
like  ?  Thus  the  democratic  State  is  being  undermined  in 
its  very  foundations,  and  the  very  life  of  the  State  is 
endangered. 

In  view  of  all  this  it  may  be  well  to  heed  the  admonition 
of  Carlyle,  and  remind  ourselves  that  there  is  an  eternal 
and  divine  regulation  of  the  universe,  and  our  safety  con- 
sists in  our  harmony  with  the  nature  of  things.  "  A  divine 
message  or  regulation  of  the  universe,  there  verily  is,  in 
regard  to  every  conceivable  procedure  of  man ;  faithfully 
following  this,  said  procedure  or  affair  will  prosper,  and 
have  the  full  universe  to  second  it,  and  carry  it  across  the 
fluctuating  contradictions,  toward  a  victorious  goal ;  not 
following  this,  mistaking  this,  disregarding  this,  destruc- 
tion and  wreck  are  certain  for  every  affair."  "  How  find 
this  divine  message  of  regulation?  "  he  asks.  And  all  the 
world  answers :  "  Count  heads,  ask  universal  suffrage  ; 
that  will  tell."  No  wonder  he  grows  scornful  at  this  way 
of  attempting  to  read  the  will  of  God.  To  make  the 
will  of  the  majority  binding  upon  all  or  upon  any  is 
tyranny.  Man  as  man  has  no  claim  upon  my  will ;  not  one 
man,  not  ten  million  of  men.  The  only  submission  we 
dare  acknowledge  is  submission  to  the  law  of  right  and 
the  acceptance  of  its  obligations. 

To-day  this  agnostic  theory  of  the  State  in  its  practical 
workings  is  doing  much  to  undermine  men's  respect  for 


214 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


law.  Let  any  plain  citizen  consider  the  manner  in  which 
the  majority  of  laws  are  framed  in  a  democracy  and  the 
result  will  not  prove  edifying.  Many  people  see  in  the  laws 
of  the  State  little  else  than  the  intrigues  of  politicians 
and  the  interests  of  a  class.  Many  men  have  gone  be- 
hind the  scenes,  and  they  know  how  laws  are  framed  in 
caucus  and  lobbied  through  the  legislature.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  see  why  men  have  such  little  respect  for  the 
laws  of  the  land.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  laws  framed 
in  this  way  can  command  much  reverence  or  speak  with 
a  divine  authority.  In  this  way  men  are  indifferent  to 
law  because  they  have  no  respect  for  law.  How  much 
higher  and  worthier  is  the  conception  of  the  master 
of  modern  law: 

"  For  as  God,  when  he  created  matter  and  endued  it 
with  the  principle  of  mobility,  established  certain  rules  for 
the  perpetual  direction  of  that  motion;  so  when  he  cre- 
ated man  and  endued  him  with  free  will  to  conduct  him- 
self in  all  parts  of  life,  he  laid  down  certain  immutable 
laws  of  human  nature  whereby  that  free  will  is  in  some 
degree  regulated  and  restrained,  and  gave  him  also  the 
faculty  of  reason  to  discover  the  purport  of  those  laws.  .  . 
These  are  the  eternal  and  immutable  laws  of  good  and 
evil,  to  which  the  Creator  himself,  in  all  his  dispensations 
conforms,  and  which  he  has  enabled  human  reason  to 
discover,  so  far  as  they  are  necessary  for  the  conduct  of 
human  action"  (Blackstone,  "  Cooley,"  Vol.  I,  Marg., 
40). 

Carlyle  has  told  us  that  democracy  is  near  akin  to 
atheism,  and  we  now  see  that  it  is  near  akin  to  anarchy. 
It  is  a  day  of  ill  omen  for  any  State  when  self-interest  is 
the  lord  of  life  and  expedience  is  the  god  of  conscience. 
It  is  a  day  of  ill  omen  for  a  people  when  the  will  of  the 
majority  is  made  the  standard  of  right  and  there  is  no 
vox  Dei  behind  the  zvx  populi.    Democracy  is  organized 


THE  DANGERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


215 


self-control ;  and  "  It  is  evident  that  self-control  means 
conscience  and  honor.  And  it  is  these  qualities  which  a 
democracy  preeminently  needs.  Here  is  the  lack  of  our 
age.  Democracy  means  individualism.  And  that  has 
too  fatefully  come  to  mean  yielding  to  the  individual 
desire.  It  is  what  I  want — or  what  I  think  I  want — not 
what  I  ought,  which  determines  my  action  (President 
Harry  Pratt  Judson,  in  "  American  Journal  of  Sociology," 
July,  1895).  Just  so  far  as  democracy  means  the  en- 
thronement of  self-interest  and  the  apotheosis  of  indi- 
vidual desire ;  just  so  far  as  it  means  the  dominance  of 
human  wishes  without  respect  to  the  immutable  laws  of 
right,  so  far  it  becomes  an  iniquitous  and  dangerous  thing, 
a  thing  with  which  the  throne  of  God  can  have  no  fellow- 
ship, and  a  thing  that  can  have  no  potent  influence  upon 
the  real  progress  of  man. 


X 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY 

IN  Western  lands,  democracy  as  a  form  of  government 
is  fast  becoming  a  reality.  In  America  and  Switzer- 
land, in  Britain  and  New  Zealand,  the  hindrances  that  im- 
peded man's  progress  one  by  one  have  been  swept  away, 
and  democracy  is  in  fact  now  beginning  to  appear.  In 
other  lands  there  is  such  a  pronounced  drift  toward 
democracy  that  government  of  the  people  is  only  a  ques- 
tion of  time.  In  past  generations  men  dreamed  of  the 
blessings  which  we  now  enjoy,  but  died  without  entering 
the  promised  land.  Now,  after  the  long  and  weary 
wilderness  march,  we  seem  at  last  to  have  entered  into 
our  promised  inheritance.  Now,  at  last,  the  rights  of  the 
people  have  been  so  asserted  and  defined  that  the  liberties 
which  the  men  of  old  saw  in  a  far-off  vision  have  become 
the  common  heritage  of  their  children.  It  seems  that 
humanity  is  ready  to  turn  the  page  and  write  a  new 
chapter  of  human  progress. 

But  now  what  do  we  find?  How  shall  this  new  chapter 
be  written?  Has  the  political  millennium  come,  and  are 
the  people  satisfied?  Is  democracy  an  accomplished  fact? 
On  all  sides  and  by  all  classes  of  people  it  is  discounted, 
and  men  are  distrustful  of  popular  government.  Thus, 
a  well-known  writer,  in  a  well-known  review,  declares 
that  our  age  is  befooled  by  democracy;  and  he  further 
says  that  if  we  could  get  rid  of  our  notions  about  liberty 
and  equality,  and  could  lay  aside  this  eighteenth  century 
philosophy,  according  to  which  human  society  is  to  be 
brought  into  a  state  of  blessedness,  we  might  get  some 
216 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  217 

insight  into  the  might  of  the  societary  organization.  And 
Professor  Giddings,  one  of  the  best  informed  sociologists, 
writes :  "  We  are  witnessing  to-day  beyond  question,  the 
decay — perhaps  not  permanent — but  at  any  rate  the  decay 
of  republican  institutions.  No  man  in  his  right  mind 
can  deny  it."  And  still  another  man,  a  careful  student 
of  history,  writes  a  book  on  democracy  and  liberty,  in 
which  we  have  one  long  indictment  of  our  modern  demo- 
cratic institutions. 

That  such  things  are  thought  and  written,  and  are  justi- 
fied by  facts,  indicates  that  democracy  has  not  yet  had 
its  perfect  work;  at  any  rate  they  compel  one  to  believe 
that  it  has  some  great  tasks  yet  to  fulfil.  Some  of  these 
unfinished  tasks  we  may  briefly  note. 

I.  The  Yea  and  Nay  of  Liberty.  The  story  of  liberty 
is  one  of  the  most  glorious  and  fascinating  stories  in  all 
the  world.  That  men  might  be  free  they  have  counted 
not  their  lives  dear  unto  themselves.  That  they  might  be 
free  they  have  crossed  trackless  deserts  and  stormy 
oceans,  preferring  thirst  and  starvation  to  servile  sub- 
jection. And  their  faith  and  toil  have  not  been  in  vain, 
for  one  by  one  the  limitations  upon  men  have  been  re- 
moved, and  little  by  little  the  soul  has  gained  its  freedom 
and  stood  in  its  own  right. 

But  the  enjoyment  of  these  privileges  has  not  by  any 
means  solved  the  problems  of  society  or  brought  the 
golden  age  of  man.  In  fact,  we  are  distinctly  told  that  the 
very  possession  of  these  privileges  has  complicated  the 
problems  and  has  multiplied  the  dangers  that  beset  our 
humanity.  The  story  of  liberty  thus  far  written  reads  like 
an  unfinished  tale,  and  we  turn  to  the  next  chapter. 

When  we  review  this  story  of  the  struggle  for  liberty 
we  see  that  it  is  almost  wholly  a  story  of  negatives.  Thus, 
two  of  the  great  charters  of  human  liberty,  the  Magna 
Charta  and  the  American  Declaration  of  Independence, 


218 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


are  both  negative  in  form,  and  assert  the  right  of  man 
to  be  free  from  certain  arbitrary  and  unjust  exactions. 
Thus  too,  nearly  all  the  great  formulas  of  liberty  that 
have  been  written  have  largely  been  negative  in  form  and 
substance.  Xo  king  or  noble  can  extract  arbitrary  sums 
from  the  people  under  the  name  of  taxes.  Xo  man  can 
produce  a  bill  of  sale  and  claim  another  as  his  chattel. 
Xo  man  shall  be  deprived  of  the  privileges  of  citizenship 
on  account  of  the  color  of  his  skin  or  his  status  in 
society.  Xo  measures  shall  become  law  without  the  ex- 
pressed approval  of  a  majority  of  the  free  electors.  Sup- 
pose now  we  stop  here  as  many  seem  inclined  to  do? 
Suppose  this  were  the  final  word  in  the  story  of  human 
liberty?  In  that  case  we  fall  far  short  of  the  goal,  and 
misplace  the  whole  emphasis  of  life.  Xo  man  may  dictate 
my  religious  belief.  Does  this  mean  that  I  am  therefore 
absolved  from  all  the  obligations  and  claims  of  religion; 
that  religion  is  a  matter  of  pure  indifference  to  the  State, 
and  that  the  State  can  prosper  where  the  people  are 
irreligious?  Many  people  so  interpret  the  formula,  and 
so  they  claim  what  Brownson  calls  the  freedom  of  denial 
rather  than  the  freedom  of  worship.  Xo  king  or  parlia- 
ment may  use  my  person  and  property  for  his  own  ad- 
vantage and  according  to  his  own  pleasure.  Does  this 
mean  that  my  own  interests  are  supreme  and  that  the 
State  has  no  claims  upon  my  life  but  such  as  I  am  willing 
to  concede?  Does  this  mean  that  I  am  free  to  direct  my 
life  in  my  own  way?  Many  people  so  suppose,  and  in 
doing  so  they  pervert  the  whole  meaning  of  liberty  and 
misplace  the  emphasis  of  thought.  Thus  far  we  see  that 
in  the  history  of  humanity  liberty  has  appeared  as  a  neg- 
ative thing  in  form  and  spirit.  Thus  far  liberty  has 
'  appeared  as  the  deliverance  of  man  from  the  tyranny  of 
unjust  and  arbitrary  restraint  that  he  might  be  free  to 
pursue  his  own  way  in  peace  and  happiness.    All  this  is 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  2IO, 

something,  but  all  this  is  not  all.    If  we  stopped  here  we 
should  fall  far  short  of  the  full-orbed  truth. 

For  true  liberty  is  a  positive  thing,  and  to  consider  its  w 
negative  aspects  alone  is  to  miss  its  high  and  divine 
significance.  The  Apostle  Paul — to  take  an  illustration 
from  religious  history — makes  it  very  clear  that  Jesus 
Christ  has  come  to  emancipate  men  from  the  bondage  of 
a  sacrificial  and  ceremonial  system  which  pressed  hard 
upon  them.  But  he  makes  it  no  less  clear  that  this  eman- 
cipation does  not  absolve  them  from  all  moral  and  re- 
ligious obligations ;  on  the  contrary,  he  means  the  direct 
opposite  of  this,  and  he  declares  that  all  this  is  simply  to 
abuse  the  grace  of  God.  By  freedom,  the  apostle  means 
that  man  is  placed  in  a  position  where  he  may  truly  and 
fully  serve  God  out  of  his  own  heart's  choice  and  devo- 
tion. He  is  freed  from  the  external  and  arbitrary  re- 
straints that  were  upon  him  that  he  may  serve  God  in 
sincerity  and  truth.  By  political  freedom  we  do  not 
mean  that  each  man  is  freed  from  all  law  and  authority 
that  he  may  do  what  is  right  in  his  own  eyes.  The  direct 
opposite  is  the  fact,  for  democracy  means  not  less  law  but 
more,  but  with  this  difference :  the  man  is  delivered  from 
the  tyranny  of  one  man's  will  that  he  may  order  his  life 
according  to  the  authority  of  law  and  reason.  The  man 
is  not  free  to  do  his  own  will  and  follow  his  own  devices ; 
nay,  he  is  less  free  than  before.  But  now  his  submission 
is  wholly  voluntary  and  spontaneous,  and  is  the  un- 
forced and  genuine  expression  of  his  own  heart's  love 
and  loyalty. 

Again,  true  liberty  means  the  voluntary  sacrifice 
of  self  for  the  common  life.  In  the  last  analysis 
a  man's  conception  of  liberty  is  part  and  parcel  of 
his  total  conception  of  man  and  his  meaning.  The 
man  who  makes  self  the  center  of  his  system  and 
interprets  all  things  in  term  of  self-interest  will  be 


220  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

a  tyrant  when  he  has  the  power,  and  an  anarchist 
when  he  is  in  subjection.  But  the  man  who  believes  in 
the  solidarity  of  the  race  and  realizes  that  all  are  for  each 
and  each  is  for  all,  will  construe  all  things  in  the  light  of 
the  common  good.  To  him  government  represents  the 
common  welfare,  and  the  object  of  government  is  to  dis- 
cover and  administer  that  law  which  shall  decide  all 
questions  between  man  and  man.  The  man  who  has 
entered  into  the  true  and  Christian  conception  of  life 
sees  that  he  is  called  to  seek  the  good  of  others  in  the 
confidence  that  his  own  good  will  be  secured.  The  Chris- 
tian law  pledges  each  man  to  seek  his  own  life  in  and 
through  the  life  of  all.  Liberty,  it  is  evident  does  not 
mean  the  deliverance  of  the  soul  from  law ;  it  does  not 
mean  the  privilege  of  making  self  the  center ;  above  all 
it  does  not  mean  self-sufficiency  and  self-assertion. 
Liberty,  in  its  inner  meaning,  is  rather  the  privilege  of 
choosing  the  right  and  of  voluntarily  submitting  one's 
self  to  the  common  good ;  it  is  the  power  of  sacrificing 
self  without  constraint  for  the  common  life.  The  highest 
expression  of  liberty  is  found  wherever  "  the  strong  yield 
up  a  measure  of  personal  liberty  for  the  sake  of  those 
to  whom  such  liberty  is  full  of  irresistible  peril  "  ("  The 
Outlook,"  Aug.  31,  1907).  The  State,  in  the  last  analysis, 
is  the  medium  of  the  mutual  sacrifices  and  services  of 
the  people,  and  no  society  can  exist  without  a  degree  of 
self-sacrifice  and  social  service.  The  free  State  is  pos- 
sible where  the  citizens  take  thought  for  the  common 
welfare,  and  freely  sacrifice  themselves  for  the  common 
good.  Thus  true  liberty  is  life  in  and  through  the  life 
of  all. 

True  liberty  is  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  a  means  to  an 
end.  That  end  is  the  fulfilment  of  one's  personality  and 
the  welfare  of  all.  John  Stuart  Mill  has  defined  liberty 
as  the  power  of  pursuing  one's  own  way,  with  the  limi- 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  221 

tation  that  in  so  doing  he  is  not  to  interfere  with  others 
who  may  be  pursuing  their  own  good  in  their  own  way. 
But  this  is  an  entirely  negative  conception,  and  neither 
satisfies  the  moral  law  nor  solves  the  problems  of  society. 
In  general,  the  formula  means  getting  all  you  can  of  the 
world's  goods  without  getting  yourself  into  the  police 
court.  This  really  makes  self  the  center,  and  puts  the 
emphasis  upon  one's  own  wishes.  And  this  also  makes 
liberty  an  end  in  itself,  and  gives  us  no  great  synthesis 
which  shall  include  all  lesser  ends.  But  the  man  who  has 
entered  into  the  true  conception  of  things  sees  that  he  is 
called  to  seek  the  good  of  all  in  the  assurance  that  his  own 
good  will  thereby  be  secured.  And  he  also  sees  that  lib- 
erty, to  have  any  real  meaning  and  social  value,  signifies 
the  power  of  choosing  the  highest  ends  and  of  making 
his  life  a  part  of  the  common  life. 

Hence  it  follows  that  democracy  will  not  fulfil  its  task 
till  it  has  taught  men  the  full  meaning  of  liberty  and  has 
trained  them  in  the  art  of  living  together.  It  is  the 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  all  men  are  brothers,  with 
common  interests,  common  rights,  and  common  duties. 
Liberty,  on  its  negative  side,  means  deliverance  from  ar- 
bitrary and  external  rule.  Liberty  in  its  positive  aspect 
means  the  voluntary  submission  to  law,  with  voluntary 
self-sacrifice  for  the  common  good.  It  is  just  here  that 
we  discover  a  danger  that  is  as  real  in  a  democracy  as  in 
an  autocracy.  In  a  monarchy  the  world  has  often  beheld 
the  spectacle  of  one  man  making  himself  supreme  and 
compelling  the  service  and  obedience  of  his  fellows.  And 
in  a  democracy  we  may  behold  the  same  spectacle  under 
other  forms,  in  the  free  and  independent  citizen  who 
makes  his  own  interests  and  preferences  supreme.  That 
man  who  in  the  democratic  State  regards  the  machinery 
of  government  as  the  agent  of  his  own  interests  and 
desires,  differs  in  no  essential  respect  from  the  autocrat 


222 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


who  imposes  his  will  upon  his  fellows.  Liberty  that 
means  self-assertion  and  self-seeking  is  death ;  liberty 
that  means  self-sacrifice  and  social  service  is  life.  We 
never  shall  have  a  real  liberty  or  a  true  democracy  till 
this  principle  is  recognized  and  honored. 

It  is  evident  that  liberty  alone  can  never  truly  serve  man- 
kind. It  is  evident  that  the  nay  of  liberty  can  never  carry 
man  very  far  along  the  upward  way.  Sin  at  bottom  is 
selfishness,  the  enthronement  of  self-interest  as  the  final 
law  of  life.  And  selfishness  is  ever  and  forever  a  principle 
of  confusion  and  disunion,  the  eternal  enemy  of  progress. 
The  State  that  is  founded  upon  the  philosophy  of  atom- 
ism, of  selfishness,  cannot  long  endure.  Love  and  self- 
sacrifice  are  the  real  foundations  of  society ;  it  is  only 
through  the  fulfilment  of  these  principles  that  man  has 
risen  out  of  the  mire  and  the  State  has  become  possible 
at  all.  It  is  evident  that  only  through  the  yea  of  liberty 
can  society  really  advance  along  its  upward  way  and 
democracy  reveal  its  higher  meaning. 

Thus  far  democracy  has  taught  men  the  nay  of  liberty, 
and  it  has  taught  it  well.  But  it  must  now  go  forward 
and  teach  men  the  yea  of  liberty,  and  its  task  will  not  be 
finished  till  this  is  done.  In  the  yea  of  liberty  a  man  says : 
I  am  free  from  all  other  lesser  and  lower  masters  that  I 
may  come  under  the  mastership  of  the  King  Eternal. 
In  the  yea  of  liberty  a  man  says :  The  other  man  is  as 
good  as  I,  and  in  every  way  I  shall  seek  his  good.  In 
the  yea  of  liberty  he  says:  I  am  a  man  with  a  man's 
freedom  and  manhood  that  I  may  do  a  man's  work  and 
may  live  for  the  common  weal.  In  the  yea  of  liberty  he 
says :  The  common  good  is  the  supreme  concern,  and  I 
shall  seek  and  find  my  good  in  and  through  the  good  of 
all.  This  defines  the  first  great  unfinished  task  of 
democracy. 

II.  The  New  Social  Tyranny.    In  the  more  progres- 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  223 

sive  lands  of  the  world,  religious  liberty  and  political 
democracy  have  been  gained,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  they 
will  ever  be  lost.  There  is  the  expression  of  the  great 
principles  of  democracy — liberty,  equality,  and  brother- 
hood, in  religious  and  political  relations.  The  fathers 
agreed  among  themselves  that  the  authority  of  govern- 
ment should  never  be  used  in  propagating  any  form  of 
religion  or  even  in  compelling  men  to  worship  God  at 
all.  They  agreed  among  themselves  that  no  man  and  no 
set  or  class  or  caste  of  men  should  ever  possess  any  privi- 
leges in  the  State  which  were  not  equally  open  to  all. 
They  agreed  among  themselves  further,  that  no  patent 
of  nobility  should  ever  be  issued  to  any  man,  but  that 
the  way  to  honor  must  be  kept  open  to  all.  They  wrote 
out  these  agreements  in  a  constitution  which  they  made 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  land,  to  be  changed  only  by 
the  express  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  voters.  They 
decreed  that  the  government  which  exists  shall  derive 
its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  And 
more  important  than  all,  they  declared  that  the  State  is 
the  co-operation  of  all  for  the  sake  of  each. 

But  we  have  discovered  that  not  everything  has  been 
done  that  needs  to  be  done.  There  are  whole  classes  of 
rights  which  are  not  yet  defined  and  secured.  The 
citizen  possesses  the  ballot,  but  he  is  not  content.  He 
lives  under  a  written  constitution,  but  his  rights  are  not 
all  therein  defined.  He  possesses  the  political  franchise, 
but  the  golden  age  has  not  yet  dawned.  He  is  a  free 
citizen,  and  yet  he  feels  himself  defrauded  of  some  of 
his  dearest  rights.  In  a  word,  man  has  gained  religious  ,  / 
and  political  democracy,  but  he  has  come  to  see  that  the 
democratic  task  is  not  finished  till  he  has  gained  indus- 
trial and  social  democracy.  Perhaps  we  can  best  describe 
this  new  task  before  democracy  by  applying  some  of  the 
democratic  principles  to  man's  social  and  industrial  life. 


224 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


I.  In  a  free  and  just  society  every  man  is  entitled  to  the 
products  of  his  own  industry.  That  which  a  man  creates 
belongs  to  him.  This  right  is  natural  and  inherent,  and 
society  neither  creates  this  right  nor  destroys  it.  For 
this  reason,  all  forms  of  slavery,  in  which  one  man  con- 
trols the  life  and  claims  the  labor  of  another,  are  wrong  in 
principle  and  indefensible  in  practice.  For  this  reason 
also,  all  kinds  of  exploitation  that  manipulate  the 
labor  of  others  and  take  from  the  workers  an  unjust 
portion  of  their  product,  are  no  less  wrong  in  method 
and  unjust  in  results.  For  this  reason  any  governmental 
regulation  or  commercial  system  that  interferes  in  any 
way  with  this  right  of  possession  contravenes  some  of 
the  great  and  sacred  rights  of  man.  There  are  various 
ways  in  which  this  process  of  filching  may  be  carried  on, 
but  these  in  nowise  affect  its  essential  injustice.  Thus,  it 
matters  nothing  whether  this  process  is  illustrated  in 
some  feudal  system  where  a  few  nobles  own  all  the  land 
and  compel  all  the  people  to  toil  as  serfs;  or  in  some 
colonial  system  where  the  home  government  exploits  the 
colony  for  its  own  advantages  and  exacts  taxation  without 
representation ;  or  in  some  industrial  system  where  a  few 
men  control  the  means  of  production  and  distribution  and 
compel  all  the  people  to  pay  tribute.  The  particular 
method  or  system  is  of  no  moment  and  does  not  affect  the 
essential  injustice  of  the  transaction  or  modify  its  un- 
democratic spirit. 

And  once  more,  in  a  free  and  fraternal  society  all  men 
are  entitled  to  a  fair  inheritance  in  the  natural  resources 
of  the  earth.  In  a  way  this  is  recognized  by  all  just 
governments,  and  so  they  provide  that  the  rivers  and 
seas  cannot  become  private  property,  but  must  be  held 
as  common  carriers.  In  a  way,  also,  society  recognizes 
this  principle  with  respect  to  land,  for  the  right  of  emi- 
nent domain  as  it  is  called  is  generally  admitted.  But  this 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  225 

principle  is  of  wide  application,  and  in  a  fair  and  free 
society  it  must  be  universally  honored.  Suppose  now  the 
time  should  come  when  the  various  conditions  that  sus- 
tain life  should  fall  into  the  control  of  a  few  men.  Sup- 
pose these  men  by  the  use  of  great  skill  or  vast  capital 
should  gain  control  of  the  means  of  production  and  dis- 
tribution and  should  use  these  means  primarily  for  their 
own  enrichment.  And  suppose  that  these  few  men  should 
give  every  man  in  the  land  who  may  be  engaged  in  the 
same  line  of  trade  the  hard  option  of  selling  out  to  them  at 
their  own  price  or  being  crushed  out  of  business.  In 
all  these  cases  some  of  the  inherent  and  imprescriptible 
rights  of  man  are  violated  and  trampled  under  foot;  and 
in  all  of  them  society  is  essentially  unjust  and  tyrannical 
whatever  may  be  the  form  of  its  government.  (See 
Abbott,  "The  Rights  of  Man,"  chap,  iv.) 

That  some  of  these  rights  are  endangered  even  in  the 
most  democratic  lands,  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge. 
In  all  lands  to-day  there  is  a  marked  tendency  toward  co- 
operation of  forces  and  combination  of  interests,  and  in 
a  large  sense  this  tendency  is  natural  and  right  and 
cannot  be  resisted.  Pure  individualism  is  inconceivable, 
and  simple  independence  is  impossible.  "  You  must  unite 
and  combine  and  co-operate  " — this  is  the  mandate  of 
the  universe  to  the  children  of  men.  "  Competition  is 
wasteful,  individualism  is  wicked,  and  self-seeking  is 
suicide."  But  just  here  arises  a  danger  that  cannot  be 
ignored  and  must  not  be  minimized.  This  tendency 
toward  unity  and  co-operation  in  production  and  distribu- 
tion is  making  possible  an  industrial  autocracy  the  most 
despotic  and  undemocratic  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

2.  In  democratic  America  it  is  found  that  a  few  men 
control  the  coal  industry,  and  determine  how  much  shall 
be  mined,  what  wages  the  miners  shall  receive,  and  what 
prices  the  people  shall  pay.  In  this  land  the  iron  and  steel 
p 


226 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


industry  is  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men,  and  these  determine 
at  once  the  output  for  a  year  and  the  prices  to  he  paid ; 
they  decide  also  who  may  be  permitted  to  engage  in  this 
line  of  business,  and  no  man  can  long  manufacture  steel 
without  their  permission.  In  this  land  a  few  men  control 
the  railroads,  and  they  determine  what  rates  shall  prevail, 
what  communities  shall  prosper,  and  all  this  with  little 
regard  to  the  interests  of  the  people.  In  this  land  a  few 
men  control  the  petroleum  industry,  and  determine  how 
much  oil  shall  be  refined,  what  shall  be  paid  for  the  crude 
oil  to  the  producer,  and  what  shall  be  paid  for  the  refined 
oil  by  the  consumer.  The  simple  facts  of  the  case  are 
that  a  few  men,  by  the  use  of  great  skill  and  large  capital, 
are  getting  control  of  the  means  of  production  and  dis- 
tribution, and  are  fastening  upon  the  necks  of  the  people 
an  industrial  autocracy  more  irresponsible  and  tyrannical 
than  the  world  has  yet  known.  Whether  men  know  it  or 
not,  "  our  vision  of  freedom  is  passing  into  the  eclipse 
of  universal  corporate  compulsion  in  the  interest  of  cap- 
italism "  (Small,  "The  Outlook,"  June  17,  1899).  And 
Professor  Howerth  shows  how  "  there  has  been  growing 
up  in  modern  times  an  institution  which,  as  a  means  of 
control  and  privilege,  has  become  more  potent  than 
Church  or  State.  That  institution  is  capitalism,  or  speak- 
ing generally,  the  industrial  institution.  .  .  This  is  but  to 
say  that  power  has  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  those 
who  have  secured  possession  of  the  instruments  of  pro- 
duction, and  in  some  cases  that  power  is  greater  than 
that  formerly  wielded  by  kings  and  emperors.  It  would 
be  a  miracle  if  this  power  were  not  abused.  That  it  has 
been,  no  one  will  deny  "  ("  American  Journal  of  Soci- 
ology," Sept.,  1906).  In  sober  truth  it  may  be  said 
that  no  political  autocrat  of  the  past  ever  possessed  more 
than  a  tithe  of  the  real  power  of  these  modern  industrial 
and  social  autocrats. 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  227 

In  all  the  States  and  cities  we  find  an  outside  institu- 
tion known  as  a  corporation  exercising  a  general  con- 
trol over  the  whole  life  of  the  people.  The  masters  of 
these  corporations  decide  who  shall  be  nominated  for 
mayors  in  the  cities  and  governors  in  the  States ;  they 
dictate  platforms  and  determine  policies;  they  make  and 
unmake  congressmen  and  senators ;  they  keep  from  pub- 
lic life  strong  and  worthy  and  noble  men  and  allow  their 
own  agents  to  be  chosen ;  they  exact  certain  charges  for 
public  services  with  little  reference  to  the  real  value  of 
the  service ;  they  tax  the  people  at  every  turn,  and  all  this 
without  representation  or  redress  on  their  part.  "  We 
have  abolished  kings  and  have  substituted  railway  kings ; 
we  have  abolished  lords  and  have  substituted  coal  barons  " 
(Lyman  Abbott,  "The  Outlook,"  Nov.  17,  1906).  We 
have  agreed  to  call  no  man  master  in  political  relations 
and  to  pay  no  tax  without  representation,  but  we  have 
permitted  commercial  masters  to  gain  control  of  trade  and 
tax  the  people  according  to  their  own  pleasure.  We  may 
call  this  what  we  will,  but  we  cannot  call  it  democracy. 

3.  Then,  for  another  thing,  we  find  that  the  industrial 
and  social  forces  of  society  are  more  and  more  being  ex- 
ploited for  the  disproportionate  advantage  and  enrich- 
ment of  the  few.  This  result  grows  out  of  the  tendency 
just  described  and  its  effects  are  most  marked.  In  the 
older  economics  it  was  taught  that  competition  was  all- 
potent  and  would  regulate  everything;  it  would  speedily 
right  any  wrongs  that  might  be  committed,  and  would 
keep  the  books  well  balanced.  Be  all  this  as  it  may,  the 
fact  is,  free  and  fair  competition  no  longer  exists  in 
modern  society,  but  practically  everything  is  determined 
by  combination.  In  the  older  economics  it  was  also  taught 
that  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  regulated  everything 
and  automatically  determined  the  wage  of  the  worker  and 
the  prices  of  commodities.    This  law,  however,  has  little 


228 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


to  do  with  the  price  of  commodities  in  these  times.  "  The 
prices  of  most  of  the  staple  commodities  consumed  by 
mankind  have  no  necessary  relation  to  the  cost  of  pro- 
ducing them  and  placing  them  in  the  hands  of  the  con- 
sumer "  (Ward,  "Psychic  Factors  of  Civilization,"  p. 
327).  All  this  is  made  possible  by  the  vast  industrial 
power  that  is  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men. 

And  in  this  process  it  may  also  be  observed  that  the 
gains  which  accrue  to  the  few  have  little  relation  to  the 
real  service  which  they  render.  The  incomes  of  some 
of  these  modern  captains  of  industry  are  simply  colossal. 
Thus  the  salary  paid  the  average  minister  of  the  gospel 
will  barely  reach  eight  hundred  dollars.  The  salary  of  a 
university  president  rarely  exceeds  ten  thousand  dollars, 
while  many  serve  for  far  less;  and  the  salary  of  the 
President  of  the  United  State  is  but  fifty  thousand  dollars 
a  year.  Yet  some  of  these  captains  of  industry  have 
incomes  from  ten  to  a  hundred  times  as  great  as  the  salary 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Surely  no  sane 
man  would  care  to  defend  the  thesis  that  the  services  of 
these  men  to  society  are  so  many  times  greater  than  the 
services  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  nation  or  the 
presidents  of  great  universities  or  even  those  of  many 
pastors  of  our  churches. 

It  may  be  admitted  that  the  methods  that  are  employed 
to  secure  these  results  differ  widely  from  the  methods 
that  were  once  in  vogue,  while  the  results  differ  little  if 
at  all.  Once,  men  aggressed  upon  their  fellows  by 
waylaying  them  by  the  roadside  and  persuading  them  with 
a  club  to  empty  their  purses;  now  they  aggress  upon 
their  fellows  by  forming  an  industrial  combination  and 
filching  their  earnings.  Once  the  knights  rode  booted 
and  spurred  across  the  country  and  plundered  the  hap- 
less wayfarer ;  now  these  barons  of  the  market  obtain 
specia'  privileges  and  plunder  the  people.    Under  such 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  229 

circumstances,  as  Lloyd  suggests,  prices  paid  to  these 
overlords  of  industry  and  these  intercepters  of  trade  are 
not  an  exchange  of  services;  they  are  the  ransom  paid 
by  the  people  for  their  lives  ( "  Wealth  Against  Com- 
monwealth," 502).  Thus  while  the  means  that  are  used 
to-day  differ  widely  from  the  means  that  were  used  of 
old,  at  heart  the  new  oligarchy  is  not  one  whit  better  than 
the  old  autocracy. 

It  may  be  said  that  many  plausible  pleas  are  advanced 
in  justification  of  this  present  system.  Thus  it  is  claimed 
that  these  combinations  prevent  wasteful  competition 
and  thus  cheapen  products.  And  it  is  also  claimed  that 
these  great  combinations  are  necessary  in  order  that  the 
commercial  interests  of  the  world  may  be  developed. 
Now,  even  if  this  were  the  case,  the  answer  is  yet  wide 
of  the  mark.  But  this  is  not  true,  and  therefore  it  is  but 
a  subterfuge.  It  may  be  said  in  justification  of  absolute 
monarchy  that  it  has  many  advantages  and  makes  for 
human  welfare ;  for  even  a  bad  government  is  better  than 
no  government  at  all.  No  doubt  many  incidental  advan- 
tages accrue  to  the  people  in  a  monarchical  government, 
and  if  incidental  advantages  were  the  whole  of  life  even 
monarchy  might  be  endured.  From  the  groundling's 
point  of  view  nothing  was  more  foolish  than  the  Pilgrims' 
adventure — to  leave  ease  and  comfort  behind  and  cross 
the  wintry  sea  all  for  the  sake  of  a  few  sentimental 
notions.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  social  Tory  noth- 
ing was  more  unreasonable  than  the  Revolutionary 
fathers — the  tax  on  paper  and  tea  was  a  mere  trifle ;  and 
then  these  articles  were  cheaper  in  Boston  than  in  Lon- 
don. But  the  question  at  issue  with  the  Pilgrims  was 
not  ease  and  self-interest,  but  truth  and  soul  liberty; 
the  question  at  issue  in  the  Revolutionary  War  was  not 
the  price  of  paper  and  tea,  but  taxed  paper  and  tea. 
Going  behind  all  incidental  advantages  that  may  accrue 


230 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


from  such  industrial  control  we  may  say  that  the  real 
question  at  issue  is  not  the  price  of  commodities,  but 
the  one  fact  of  monopoly  taxes.  It  is  not  a  question 
whether  steel  and  coal,  oil  and  beef  are  cheaper  or  dearer 
than  they  otherwise  would  be ;  the  real  question  is  whether 
these  commodities  are  controlled  by  a  few  industrial  over- 
lords who  fix  prices  and  control  the  markets  of  the 
country.  This  monopoly  control  may  cheapen  prices, 
but  this  monopoly  control  is  not  democracy. 

It  must  be  said  also  that  many  of  these  industrial  man- 
agers are  men  of  clean  lives  and  religious  disposition. 
To  those  who  cannot  distinguish  between  a  man's  per- 
sonal life  and  his  public  conduct  this  indictment  of  them 
may  seem  harsh  and  unfair.  But  the  personal  characters 
of  these  men  are  not  the  real  questions  at  stake.  It  is 
not  so  much  a  question  of  men  as  of  systems.  Monarchy, 
we  have  agreed,  is  bad  whoever  the  particular  incumbent 
of  the  throne  may  be.  Industrial  autocracy  is  intolerable 
in  a  free  State,  without  any  reference  to  the  character  of 
the  autocrats.  For  these  reasons  the  question  must  be 
considered  in  an  impersonal  way,  and  the  characters  of 
men  must  not  becloud  the  real  issue. 

4.  Then,  for  a  fourth  thing,  we  find  as  the  result  of 
these  tendencies  now  in  operation,  that  the  range  of 
opportunity  and  initiative  in  social  and  industrial  life 
is  steadily  narrowing  for  the  great  majority  of  men. 
Some  of  this  it  may  be  is  inevitable,  but  much  of  it 
is  unnecessary,  and  some  of  it  is  unjust.  The  time  has 
been  when  the  manufacturer  wrought  with  his  own 
hands,  sitting  or  standing  side  by  side  with  his  helpers 
and  apprentices.  In  his  own  home  he  installed  a  few 
looms,  as  the  case  might  be,  and  though  his  capital  was 
small,  he  maintained  himself  in  comfort  and  was  happy. 
And  his  apprentice  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  he 
might  be  his  own  master,  and  might  set  up  in  life  for 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  23I 

himself — and  possibly  might  marry  his  early  master's 
daughter.  The  time  has  now  come  when  great  factories 
are  built  wherein  thousands  of  employees  labor  at  the 
command  of  another,  and  with  no  real  stake  in  the  busi- 
ness. These  undertakings  represent  a  colossal  investment, 
and  are  only  possible  where  men  possess  unlimited  capital. 
As  a  result  of  it  all  the  man  of  small  means  is  placed  at  a 
disadvantage,  and  fair  competition  is  out  of  the  question. 

It  is  true  that  there  is  always  room  at  the  top  for  the 
few  men  of  force  and  talent,  but  the  average  man  has  no 
hope  of  being  anything  else  than  a  "  hand  "  toiling  under 
the  direction  of  another.  Thus  far  it  may  be  this  process 
is  inevitable ;  and  much  farther  it  may  be  this  tendency 
will  continue.  But  be  the  process  inevitable  or  not,  the 
State  must  carefully  watch  it  and  must  faithfully  safe- 
guard the  interests  of  the  weaker  man;  it  must  see  to  it 
that  every  person  has  free  opportunity  and  fair  privilege, 
and  is  not  placed  at  a  total  disadvantage  by  his  stronger 
competitor. 

But  much  of  this  narrowing  of  opportunity  for  the  aver- 
age man  is  wholly  unnecessary,  and  is  only  possible  where 
gross  injustice  is  done.  Thus  we  have  seen  how  through 
the  concentration  of  vast  wealth  the  elimination  of  free 
competition  has  resulted  and  the  one  man  is  handicapped 
or  put  out  of  the  race.  In  many  lines  of  manufacture  and 
trade  it  is  impossible  for  one  with  limited  capital — who 
is  not  a  member  of  the  combination  and  will  not  adopt 
its  methods — to  maintain  himself  for  any  length  of  time. 
The  moment  his  competition  becomes  in  any  wise  effective 
he  is  given  the  hard  option  of  joining  the  combination 
or  being  driven  out  of  business.  This  means  that  the  great 
mass  of  men  are  being  reduced  to  a  condition  of 
industrial  dependence  and  serfdom.  They  are  being  re- 
duced to  the  position  of  employees  in  a  vast  corporation, 
and  the  range  of  their  initiative  in  life  is  thereby  nar- 


232 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


rowed.  Democracy  means  fair  opportunity  for  all ;  and 
where  such  opportunity  does  not  exist  there  democracy 
is  but  an  empty  name.  Under  the  present  growing 
tendency  toward  industrial  autocracy  the  range  of  life  of 
the  average  man  is  rapidly  narrowing,  and  equality  of 
opportunity  is  fast  disappearing.  In  modern  demo- 
cratic lands  political  feudalism  has  disappeared  forever; 
but  in  the  most  democratic  lands  a  new  industrial  feudal- 
ism is  being  established.  And  this  feudalism,  it  may 
be  said,  is  even  more  absolute  and  more  arrogant  and  all- 
dominant  than  any  political  feudalism  the  world  has  ever 
experienced. 

5.  And  for  another  thing,  we  find  as  the  result  of  this 
whole  process,  that  government  is  in  danger  of  becoming 
less  and  less  democratic,  and  of  becoming  more  and  more 
commercial.  There  are  several  causes  that  contribute  in 
a  special  way  toward  this  plutocratic  control,  and  these 
are  all  deserving  of  careful  study.  Thus,  for  one  thing,  in 
America  the  wealth  of  the  nation  has  multiplied  at  an 
almost  miraculous  rate ;  and  this  has  done  much  to  dazzle 
the  eyes  of  the  people  and  to  lead  them  to  rate  all  prog- 
ress in  terms  of  money  values.  Then,  with  this  increase 
of  wealth,  there  has  come  an  increase  of  luxury,  with  its 
false  standards  in  social  life.  The  old  simplicity  of  life, 
the  democratic  simplicity  as  it  was  called,  has  disappeared, 
and  with  it  have  gone  many  salutary  customs.  We  have 
grown  literally  afraid  of  being  poor ;  and  we  have  come 
to  measure  success  by  one's  bank  account.  And  with 
this  has  come  a  change  in  the  standards  of  public  life 
and  official  propriety ;  and  these  changes  make  it  prac- 
tically impossible  for  a  poor  man  to  hold  high  office  in 
either  State  or  nation.  A  great  change  has  passed  over 
American  public  life  since  the  days  when  Jefferson  was 
inaugurated  president ;  for  history  records  how  this 
man  rode  on  horseback  to  the  capitol,  and  in  great  sim- 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  233 

plicity  advanced  to  take  the  oath  of  office.  Because  of 
all  these  changes,  which  cannot  all  be  called  changes  for 
the  better,  public  office  is  more  and  more  passing  into  the 
hands  of  the  wealthy  members  of  society. 

But  this  is  not  all,  and  this  is  not  the  worst.  So  long 
as  things  are  prized  above  men  that  long  money  will  be 
potent  in  human  affairs.  Money  has  been  known  the 
world  over  and  in  all  ages  for  its  power  to  blind  the  eyes 
and  influence  the  wills  of  men.  It  is  not  strange,  there- 
fore, that  the  vast  money  interests  of  the  country  should 
have  an  undue  weight  in  the  affairs  of  government  and 
should  exert  a  baleful  influence  upon  legislation.  But 
it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  in  a  professedly  demo- 
cratic land  the  power  of  money  should  become  so  potent 
and  the  reign  of  the  dollar  should  be  so  manifest.  That 
this  is  the  fact,  that  the  people  of  America  are  in  danger 
of  a  plutocracy,  is  the  calm  judgment  of  many  students 
of  our  public  life.  And  this  plutocratic  government,  we 
are  also  told,  is  giving  us  the  most  despotic  masters  the 
world  has  ever  known,  and  the  most  irresponsible.  Now, 
whatever  this  may  be,  it  is  not  democracy. 

6.  Thus  far  there  is  quite  general  agreement  among 
students  of  all  shades  of  opinion  and  all  schools  of 
thought.  When,  however,  we  consider  the  remedies  that 
may  be  applied  we  find  men  breaking  up  into  groups  and 
even  arraying  themselves  in  hostile  camps.  It  is  not 
necessary,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  consider  the  various 
remedies  that  may  be  proposed ;  but  we  may  note  two  of 
the  conditions  that  must  be  observed  in  every  fair  discus- 
sion of  the  problem,  and  may  indicate  the  direction  along 
which  the  State  must  move  in  the  fulfilment  of  this  un- 
finished task. 

For  one  thing,  it  is  too  late  to  consider  seriously  the 
proposition  of  suppressing  all  forms  of  industrial  com- 
bination and  co-operation.   This  tendency  toward  combi- 


234 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


nation  of  forces  and  solidarity  of  interests  is  too  funda- 
mental and  potent  to  be  successfully  resisted.  In  all 
departments  of  life  men  are  learning  that  co-operation 
is  cheaper  and  better  than  competition ;  and  when  once 
they  have  tasted  the  advantages  of  combination  they  are 
never  likely  to  throw  them  away.  Thus,  the  railroads  of 
the  country  are  more  and  more  being  unified  into  one 
great  system,  and  the  time  may  come  in  the  near  future 
when  they  will  practically  compose  one  united  system. 
Thus  also  the  steel  industries  are  more  and  more  becom- 
ing welded  into  one.  The  same  is  true  of  a  hundred  other 
interests.  A  world  that  has  learned  the  advantages  of 
combination  and  co-operation  is  not  likely  to  abandon 
them ;  and  it  may  be  said  that  such  a  course  would  retard 
progress  and  work  injury.  In  all  our  thought  of  modern 
society  and  its  wrongs  we  must  take  this  fact  into 
account  and  must  adjust  ourselves  to  its  necessity.  There 
will  be  more  and  not  less  consolidation  of  industries  and 
solidarity  of  interests  and  co-operation  of  efforts  as  time 
goes  by  and  men  become  more  wise. 

As  the  result  of  this  natural  process  this  is  what  we 
find :  On  the  one  hand  the  great  industries  of  the  world 
are  coming  more  and  more  under  one  management.  On 
the  other  hand  the  whole  life  and  welfare  of  society  are 
vitally  dependent  upon  each  of  these  great  consolidated 
industries.  The  coal  industry  is  practically  complete 
within  itself,  and  practically  within  the  control  of  a  single 
combination ;  and  the  life  and  peace  of  the  people  in  the 
remotest  village  are  conditioned  upon  the  operation  and 
order  in  this  one  industry.  The  same  is  true  of  the  rail- 
roads of  the  land  which  have  come  under  the  virtual  con- 
trol of  a  few  men.  This  means  two  things :  that  the 
people  are  vitally  concerned  in  the  methods  and  manage- 
ment of  every  great  industry ;  and  it  means  that  the  whole 
people  must  suffer  when  any  disturbance  or  stoppage 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  235 


occurs.  This  means  also  that  these  great  industries, 
through  this  natural  and  inevitable  process  of  develop- 
ment, have  gained  an  almost  absolute  power  over  the 
lives  and  destinies  of  men ;  for  they  can  fix  wages,  deter- 
mine output,  regulate  prices,  and  compel  all  the  people 
to  pay  a  tax  in  the  form  of  monopoly  prices ;  nay,  they 
can  even  decide  whether  men  shall  have  fuel  and  heat  in 
their  homes  and  whether  the  wheels  of  a  hundred  in- 
dustries shall  turn.  And  it  means  that  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  people  is  vitally  related  to  the  orderly  working  of 
any  one  industry ;  and  the  stoppage  of  its  wheels  from  any 
cause  may  cause  widespread  disaster  and  suffering. 

This  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  unfinished  task 
of  democracy,  a  task  that  must  be  fulfilled  before  it  can 
be  fully  a  reality.  It  is  plain  that  all  efforts  in  behalf  of 
this  democracy  must  move  along  certain  lines.  There 
must  be  such  control  over  all  the  forces  and  factors  of 
man's  social  and  industrial  life  as  shall — on  the  one  hand 
— prevent  the  evils  of  monopoly  and  safeguard  society 
against  suffering  and  injustice;  or — on  the  other  hand — 
the  people  must  themselves  assume  the  ownership  and 
operation  of  these  forces  and  factors  to  the  extent  at  least 
of  ensuring  domestic  tranquillity,  promoting  the  general 
welfare,  and  enabling  each  person  to  have  a  fair  standing 
in  society.  Which  course  the  State  shall  finally  adopt  we 
need  not  attempt  to  determine,  but  one  or  the  other  course 
must  be  taken  by  the  State  that  is  even  approximately 
democratic.  There  are  many  who  fear  the  latter  course  and 
denounce  the  mention  of  such  a  contingency  as  an  advo- 
cacy of  socialism;  but  the  men  who  resist  the  effective 
regulation  of  all  industry  and  trade  are  the  very  men 
who  are  promoting  the  socialistic  propaganda.  And 
after  all,  while  such  a  governmental  regime,  which  means 
the  ownership  and  operation  of  the  chief  means  of  pro- 
duction and  distribution,  might  have  some  disadvantages 


236 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


and  dangers,  these  are  but  trifles  compared  with  the 
injustice  and  discontent  that  will  follow  in  a  monopoly 
control.  The  time  has  gone  by  when  we  can  seriously 
ask  that  the  State  seek  to  negative  this  tendency  toward 
combination  and  co-operation,  for  its  advantages  are  too 
manifest  and  too  real.  They  who  demand  that  the  State 
shall  suppress  all  combinations  know  not  what  they  do; 
and  all  unthinkingly  they  would  turn  the  hands  backward 
upon  the  dial  of  progress.  But  the  State  must  accomplish 
the  more  necessary  and  yet  more  difficult  task  of  securing 
the  benefits  of  combination  without  suffering  any  of  its 
evils.  The  whole  development  of  modern  society  is  ma- 
king necessary  an  extension  of  State  action  into  man's 
economic  life.  And  the  great  principle  of  democracy  is 
demanding  such  a  democratization  of  industry  as  shall 
equalize  social  opportunity  and  give  every  person  a  fair 
standing  in  society. 

The  things  that  have  been  named  are  in  flagrant  con- 
tradiction of  the  democratic  ideal,  and  democracy  will 
never  be  more  than  a  name  till  it  has  vindicated  the  social 
rights  of  the  people.  In  some  lands  as,  e.  g.,  America  and 
Switzerland,  the  old  battle  for  human  rights  has  been 
fought  out  to  a  successful  issue,  and  the  political  rights 
of  men  are  now  defined  and  safeguarded.  The  fathers 
discovered  that  the  political  liberties  of  men  were  not 
safe  in  the  hands  of  any  political  autocrat  be  he  person- 
ally good  or  bad.  The  time  has  come  for  the  children  to 
declare  that  the  social  rights  of  the  people  are  not  safe  in 
the  hands  of  any  social  autocrat  and  industrial  oligarchy, 
and  all  this  without  reference  to  their  character.  The 
time  has  come  for  the  people  to  agree  among  themselves 
that  no  special  privileges  of  any  kind  shall  be  granted 
to  any  man,  and  they  must  preserve  these  free  institu- 
tions by  writing  out  certain  guarantees  of  equality. 
"  Liberty  and  democracy,"  said  Aristotle,  "  are  not  pos- 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  237 

sible  without  equality  of  condition."  "  Give  a  man  power 
over  my  subsistence,"  said  Alexander  Hamilton,  "  and  he 
has  power  over  the  whole  of  my  moral  being." 

III.  The  Direct  Participation  of  the  People  in  the 
Affairs  of  Government.  Democracy,  in  the  words  of  one 
of  its  best  representatives,  is  government  "  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  and  for  the  people."  In  the  last  analysis 
this  defines  the  difference  between  democracy  and  all# 
other  forms  of  the  State.  In  so  far  as  we  have  this 
direct  participation  of  the  people  we  have  democracy,  and 
no  farther.  But  from  various  causes,  only  two  of  which 
need  be  mentioned  here,  this  direct  participation  is  de- 
nied, and  democracy  even  in  America  is  at  best  only  an 
approximation. 

The  first  set  of  causes  is  the  number  of  obstacles  that 
are  placed  between  the  people  and  the  government.  It  is 
sometimes  said  that  the  men  of  the  convention  which 
framed  the  American  Constitution  were  convinced  be- 
lievers in  democracy.  It  is  sometimes  supposed  that  this 
constitution  provides  for  a  fully  democratic  system  of 
government,  and  that  the  people  have  a  direct  voice  in 
the  affairs  of  State.  But  neither  supposition  is  more  than  - 
approximately  true.  There  were  men  in  the  State  at 
that  time  who  believed  in  democracy,  but  such  men  were 
in  reality  few.  And  significantly  enough,  some  of  these 
men,  such  as  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Patrick  Henry,  were 
not  members  of  the  convention.  There  were  some  men 
in  the  convention  itself  who  were  believers  in  democracy, 
such  as  Benjamin  Franklin,  James  Madison,  and  George 
Washington,  but  not  all  the  members  shared  the  same 
spirit.  In  fact,  the  proceedings  of  the  convention,  not 
published  till  years  afterward,  show  that  some  of  the  men 
in  that  convention  cherished  a  profound  distrust  of  the 
people  and  tried  to  keep  the  government  as  far  away  from 
their  meddling  as  possible.    In  all  of  the  colonies  a  sys- 


238 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


tern  of  popular  government  in  local  matters  had  prevailed, 
and  on  the  whole  it  worked  remarkably  well.  But  in  all 
parts  of  the  convention  there  were  serious  doubts  whether 
this  principle  of  popular  elections  could  safely  be  ap- 
plied to  national  affairs.  After  long  debate  it  was  re- 
solved that  the  national  legislature  should  consist  of 
two  branches ;  and  then  arose  the  question  how  the  mem- 
bers should  be  chosen.  Some  were  of  the  opinion  that 
they  should  be  chosen  directly  by  the  people,  but  this  was 
stoutly  opposed  by  others.  Out  of  this  conflict  of  opinion 
came  the  compromise  which  provided  for  a  lower  house 
elected  by  the  people,  and  an  upper  house  or  senate 
chosen  by  the  States.  This  distrust  was  shown  not  alone 
in  the  representative  character  of  the  government,  but 
also  in  the  number  of  checks  and  balances  that  were 
placed  upon  the  people  and  their  representatives. 
Throughout  there  was  a  studied  effort  on  the  part  of 
some  to  exclude  the  people  from  direct  participation  in 
the  government  and  to  keep  the  government  as  far  away 
from  them  as  possible.  Out  of  it  all  has  come  a  system 
of  representative  government  which  nominally  is  a  gov- 
ernment of  the  people  but  is  only  remotely  a  government 
by  the  people,  and  consequently  is  not  always  a  govern- 
ment for  the  people. 

In  a  small  community  it  is  possible  to  have  all  the 
affairs  of  government  under  the  direct  control  of  a  popu- 
lar assembly.  But  in  a  large  State  or  in  a  federal  nation 
this  is  wholly  out  of  the  question.  By  the  necessities  of 
the  case  there  must  be  some  form  of  representative  gov- 
ernment. This  being  so,  the  people  must  depend  for  the 
wise  control  of  public  affairs  on  some  human  agency ; 
and  no  authority  in  the  State  has  ever  been  found  so 
worthy  of  entire  public  confidence  as  a  deliberative  as- 
sembly composed  of  reputable  representative  men.  We 
must  recognize  this  fact  fully  and  finally,  we  are  told. 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  239 

"  We  must  comprehend,  fully  and  finally,  that  our  security 
for  a  wise  and  upright  administration  of  public  affairs  is 
to  be  found,  not  in  the  restriction  of  power,  but  in  its 
enlargement;  not  in  distrust,  but  in  confidence"  (Stick- 
ney,  "Organized  Democracy,"  pp.  68,  69). 

The  second  set  of  causes  which  stands  between  the 
people  and  the  government  and  makes  a  fully  democratic 
government  impossible  is  the  party  system.  It  may  be 
said  that  political  parties  of  some  kind  are  more  or  less 
inevitable  in  every  government ;  and  it  may  even  be  said 
that  they  are  necessary.  It  is  natural,  possibly,  and  it  is 
desirable  certainly,  that  there  should  be  differences  of 
opinion  on  many  questions  of  public  policy.  It  is  natural 
as  it  is  inevitable  for  men  who  hold  the  same  views  in 
common  to  drift  together  and  find  some  means  of  making 
their  views  effective.  "  The  greatest  discovery  ever  made 
in  the  art  of  war  was  when  men  began  to  perceive  that 
organization  and  discipline  count  for  more  than  numbers. 
This  discovery  gave  the  Spartan  infantry  a  long  career 
of  victory  in  Greece,  and  the  Swiss  infantry  a  not 
less  brilliant  renown  in  the  later  Middle  Ages.  The 
Americans  made  a  similar  discovery  in  politics  fifty 
or  sixty  years  ago"  (Bryce,  "The  American  Com- 
monwealth," Vol.  II,  p.  44).  Thus  by  degrees  there 
has  grown  up  in  America  a  system  of  party  gov- 
ernment the  most  complete  and  perfect  the  world  has 
known ;  and  out  of  this  party  government  there  have 
come  results  that  have  made  popular  government  little 
else  than  a  name.  It  is  easy  to  frame  an  indictment  the 
most  sweeping  and  severe  against  the  American  party 
system ;  but  only  one  or  two  counts  in  this  indictment 
can  be  specified.  For  one  thing,  this  party  government 
means  machine  politics ;  and  this  is  irresponsible  action 
raised  to  the  nth  power.  This  constitutes  a  tyranny  the 
most  subtle  and  far-reaching;  and  it  is  as  brutal  as  it  is 


24O  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

undemocratic.  There  are  probably  no  autocratic  gov- 
ernments in  the  world,  outside  of  Turkey,  that  exert 
as  subtle  and  silent  a  tyranny  over  men  as  the  party 
system  in  democratic  America.  Party  government  at  its 
best  means  stagnation ;  it  means  commonplace  ideas  and 
past  issues ;  its  platform  represents  the  age  that  is  passing, 
and  it  seldom  voices  the  aspirations  that  are  to  be.  Party 
government  at  its  worst  spells  compromise  and  not  prin- 
ciple ;  its  leaders  have  their  ears  to  the  ground  and  never 
their  eyes  upon  the  stars;  it  means  mediocrity  and  infe- 
riority where  it  does  not  mean  cowardice  and  corruption. 
The  good  partisan  cannot  be  a  good  citizen. 

Then  the  party  government  might  be  called  a  system 
for  keeping  the  best  men  out  of  public  life.  Under  every 
form  of  government  we  must  depend  in  the  last  analysis 
upon  the  capacity  and  honesty  of  the  men  who  hold 
public  office.  That  system  of  government  cannot  be 
wholly  bad  which  enables  the  best  men  to  serve  the  people 
in  any  civic  capacity ;  and  that  system  of  government 
cannot  be  even  remotely  good  which  disbars  the  best  men 
from  public  life.  That  the  party  system  in  its  actual 
working  accomplishes  this  latter  result  is  a  fact  known  to 
all.  Not  ability,  but  availability  is  the  one  qualification 
which  the  party  managers  demand.  Not  candidates  who 
cherish  ideals,  but  men  who  will  take  advice  are  the  kind 
of  men  wanted.  The  party  machine  stands  between  the 
people  and  the  government  and  arrogates  to  itself  the 
most  amazing  functions.  Thus  this  system  of  party 
government  makes  a  popular  government  little  else  than 
a  name. 

Two  things,  we  thus  see,  have  contributed  to  bring 
about  this  separation  of  the  people  from  their  govern- 
ment. The  first  is  the  system  of  representative  govern- 
ment which  removes  it  as  far  as  possible  from  the  people 
themselves.    And  the  second  is  the  American  party  sys- 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  2\\ 

tern  which  provides  the  very  means  for  designing  men 
to  use  the  government  for  their  own  ends.  And  thus 
we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  another  unfinished  task 
of  democracy,  and  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  all.  That 
democracy  may  be  in  fact  as  in  name  it  is  necessary  that 
there  be  a  direct  participation  of  the  people  in  the  affairs 
of  government.  It  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  all  of  the 
measures  that  may  contribute  to  this  end;  but  two  are 
worthy  of  a  full  trial. 

The  first  is  what  may  be  called  direct  legislation  by 
the  people.  The  power  to  enact  laws  may  be  exercised 
by  the  people  directly  or  through  their  chosen  represen- 
tatives. The  latter  method  is  the  one  that  prevails  gen- 
erally in  democratic  lands.  Under  this  system  there  is 
often  a  complete  divergence  between  the  will  of  the  people 
and  the  action  of  their  representatives,  and  hence  the 
legislation  does  not  represent  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned. To  remedy  these  evils  and  to  give  the  people  a 
direct  voice  in  the  affairs  of  government  is  the  one 
object  of  the  system  known  as  the  initiative  and  refer- 
endum. 

There  are  many  aspects  of  this  system  as  seen  in 
operation  in  Switzerland  and  Australasia,  and  as  ex- 
pounded by  its  advocates  in  Britain  and  America ;  but 
none  the  less  there  are  several  constants  and  these  are 
the  essentials  of  the  system.  There  are  differences  of 
opinion  with  reference  to  the  origination  and  formulation 
of  measures  to  be  submitted  to  the  people.  Shall  these 
measures  originate  with  the  people  and  be  wrought  into 
shape  by  a  legislative  assembly  and  then  be  submitted 
to  the  people?  Or  shall  these  measures  be  formulated 
by  the  petitioners  themselves  and  then  be  submitted  to 
the  people  by  the  proper  election  boards?  These  are 
minor  details  and  do  not  affect  the  central  principle  which 
provides  that  the  people  shall  have  the  means  whereby 
Q 


242 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


they  can  express  themselves  directly  upon  all  measures 
in  the  State.  The  people  in  this  system  can  put  a  direct 
veto  upon  any  legislative  measures  proposed  by  any 
body  in  city  or  State;  and  the  people  can  propose  new 
measures  and  express  their  will  with  reference  to  any 
measures  that  they  may  deem  vital.  This  makes  for 
simplicity  and  straightforwardness  in  legislation  on  the 
one  hand,  and  on  the  other  it  trains  the  people  in  the  art 
of  government  and  makes  them  know  their  stake  in  the 
life  of  the  State.  It  corrects  some  of  the  evils  of  democ- 
racy with  more  democracy. 

The  second  measure  that  must  be  adopted  in  some 
form  if  democracy  is  to  be  more  than  a  name,  is  that  of 
direct  popular  nomination  of  candidates.  Through  the 
system  of  party  government  with  delegated  conventions 
it  has  come  about  that  the  people  have  no  direct  voice  in 
the  nomination  of  candidates  and  the  making  of  plat- 
forms. Because  of  all  this  the  average  citizen  now  takes 
little  interest  in  political  matters.  Thus  the  control  of 
the  party  machine,  and  consequently  the  direction  of  the 
affairs  of  government,  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
few  active  and  interested  men  who  are  able  to  manipulate 
the  party  machinery  and  dictate  the  government's  policy. 
To  obviate  this,  and  to  give  the  people  a  direct  voice  in 
the  selection  of  candidates  some  such  method  as  the  direct 
primary  has  been  devised.  According  to  the  provisions 
of  this  system  any  man  may  announce  himself  as  a  can- 
didate for  any  office ;  or  his  friends  may  announce  his 
name  and  submit  it  to  the  people.  This  system  may  be 
extended  indefinitely,  and  provision  may  be  made  whereby 
the  voters  can  express  themselves  with  reference  to  the 
issues  that  they  believe  should  be  brought  to  the  front  in 
any  given  campaign.  To  make  possible  such  participa- 
tion in  the  affairs  of  government  and  then  train  the  people 
in  its  exercise  is  one  of  the  unfinished  tasks  of  democracy. 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  243 

By  the  methods  named  and  by  many  others  that  may  be 
considered  it  is  believed  that  democracy  may  become 
more  nearly  an  approximation  and  reality. 

IV.  The  Democracy  of  All  Life.  Implied  in  all  the 
problems  named,  growing  out  of  the  tasks  thus  far  de- 
fined, at  once  the  sum  of  all  and  the  fulfilment  of  all,  is 
the  one  great  task  that  yet  remains  to  be  considered. 
Some  elements  of  this  unfinished  task  may  be  here  men- 
tioned. 

Thus  far  democracy  has  not  spoken  its  full  message. 
There  are  three  great  ideas  that  in  a  way  have  become 
articles  of  the  democratic  faith,  and  these  must  have  their 
due  place  in  the  full-orbed  truth.  One  of  these  funda- 
mental ideas  is  liberty ;  and  to  gain  this  boon  men  have 
struggled  long  and  have  counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto 
themselves.  Another  great  watchword  is  equality;  and 
after  long  struggle  and  delay  this  principle  has  been 
asserted  in  political  relations  at  least.  The  other  great 
ideal  is  fraternity,  and  after  all  these  centuries  of  delay 
and  effort  this  ideal  has  begun  to  find  expression  at  least 
in  political  manifestoes  and  social  Utopias.  But  the 
recognition  of  this  ideal  has  been  partial  at  best,  and  its 
realization  in  its  fulness  lies  yet  in  the  unexplored  future. 
The  message  of  democracy  will  not  be  fully  uttered  till 
these  great  principles  are  fully  understood,  and  these 
great  ideals  are  fully  realized.  Thus  democracy,  like  the 
kingdom  of  God,  is  always  here,  and  yet  it  is  always  to 
come. 

Thus  far  democracy  in  its  spirit  and  method  has  been 
largely  negative  and  individualistic.  It  has  emphasized 
individualism  and  has  overlooked  solidarity.  It  has  been 
suspicious  of  government,  and  has  been  resentful  of  social 
control.  It  has  cleared  the  ground  but  it  has  not  built  the 
temple.  It  has  outlined  the  new  society,  but  it  has  not 
created  the  society  itself.    To  complete  its  task,  to  ful- 


244 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


fil  its  mission,  democracy  must  become  positive  and  con- 
structive. It  must  learn  the  meaning  of  government  and 
must  teach  men  how  to  use  it  for  the  whole  welfare  of  all. 
It  must  create  a  human  society  in  which  the  person  shall 
be  accorded  all  of  his  rights,  and  must  insure  a  liberty 
that  means  the  highest  solidarity.  In  a  word,  it  must 
complete  itself  in  fraternity,  which  is  the  democracy  of 
all  life.  Four  elements  in  this  final  task  may  be  men-, 
tioned. 

i.  For  one  thing,  democracy  must  become  positive  and 
constructive.  Thus  far  it  has  been  almost  wholly  negative 
and  preparatory.  The  time  has  now  come  for  democracy 
to  become  a  positive  and  constructive  thing,  and  to  build 
up  a  righteous  and  fraternal  society.  Nothing  can  live 
upon  mere  negatives ;  only  positive  truth  can  ever  be  the 
food  of  men  and  nations.  Xo  great  society  can  be  built 
out  of  discrete  and  suspicious  atoms ;  in  a  great  society 
the  principles  of  fraternity  and  solidarity  must  be  har- 
monized in  some  all-inclusive  synthesis.  The  world 
has  heard  the  nay  of  democracy  and  a  great  and  glorious 
word  it  has  been.  The  time  has  come  for  the  world  to 
hear  the  yea  of  democracy,  the  still  more  glorious  and 
wonderful  word.  Democracy  has  trampled  upon  crowns 
and  scepters  and  has  called  them  nothings ;  it  has  repudi- 
ated titles  of  nobility  and  privileges  of  estates ;  it  has 
razed  temples  and  palaces  that  man  might  be  free  to  live 
his  own  life  in  his  own  way ;  it  has  spelled  out  the  rights 
of  man  and  has  defined  those  rights  in  written  constitu- 
tions. Democracy  must  now  begin  to  build  new  temples 
and  palaces  for  all  the  people ;  it  must  now  declare  what 
are  the  things  that  are  truly  honorable  and  authoritative ; 
it  must  now  define  and  illustrate  the  true  titles  of  no- 
bility and  worth ;  it  must  now  spell  out  the  duties  of  man 
and  must  inspire  him  to  fulfil  those  duties.  Democracy 
has  told  us  what  are  the  things  that  are  worthless  and 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  245 

wrong,  and  humanity  is  grateful  for  this  message.  It 
must  now  demonstrate  that  the  common  man  is  a  kingly 
soul  and  the  voice  of  the  people  is  the  voice  of  God. 
Democracy  must  now  teach  man  to  walk  in  love  as  the 
child  of  the  Father  and  as  the  brother  of  his  fellows. 
The  democracy  of  blank  negations  and  narrow  individual- 
ism is  worn  out  and  is  passing  away ;  the  world  awaits  a 
democracy  of  human  brotherhood  and  divine  righteous- 
ness. Democracy,  when  interpreted  in  a  narrow  indi- 
vidualistic and  suspicious  spirit  is  a  principle  of  con- 
fusion and  disunion  and  anarchy.  Democracy,  to  be 
stable  and  potent,  to  fulfil  its  high  mission  and  truly  bless 
the  world,  must  become  a  principle  of  faith  and  brother- 
hood and  must  find  its  guarantees  in  the  mutual  sacri- 
fices and  services  of  mankind. 

2.  Again,  democracy  must  maintain  liberty  and 
equality  and  fraternity  through  social  control.  Life  is 
full  of  paradoxes,  and  here  is  a  paradox  that  cannot  be 
evaded.  Personal  freedom  can  come  only  through  social 
regulation.  The  one  man  finds  his  largest  liberty  in  the 
fullest  social  solidarity  (Ward,  "  Psychic  Factors  of 
Civilization,"  p.  275).  We  have  learned  in  the  earlier 
chapters  of  this  study  that  liberty  by  itself  and  of  itself 
is  no  boon ;  we  have  learned  also  that  the  individual  comes 
to  his  best  estate  only  in  and  through  society.  A  state  of 
society,  if  such  were  possible,  in  which  each  man  is  free 
to  do  what  he  pleases  and  to  regard  only  his  own  prefer- 
ences, would  be  the  least  free  and  the  most  intolerable 
condition  imaginable.  The  fact  is,  such  condition  would 
mean  the  lowest  savagery,  and  would  be  destitute  of  one 
worthful  and  human  quality. 

In  its  earlier  stages,  the  struggle  for  democracy  has 
been  a  struggle  against  governmental  usurpation  with  an 
emphasis  upon  the  individual  and  his  rights.  All  this  has 
been  inevitable,  in  view  of  the  kinds  of  governments  that 


246 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


have  existed,  and  soon  or  late  such  struggle  was  necessary. 
At  any  rate,  it  is  in  and  through  this  process  of  struggle 
and  denial  that  the  individual  has  come  to  self-conscious- 
ness and  his  rights  have  been  defined.  But  the  time  has 
come  for  men  to  learn  the  real  meaning  of  government 
and  to  consider  the  real  nature  of  society;  the  time  has 
come  for  men  to  honor  the  great  principle  of  solidarity 
and  come  to  what  may  be  called  social  consciousness. 
Under  the  reign  of  these  earlier  ideas  of  democracy  men 
have  lived  in  a  fear  of  government,  and  have  hesitated  to 
take  any  step  forward  for  fear  of  limiting  some  right  of 
man.  Because  of  this  distrust  of  government,  it  has  come 
about  that  it  has  been  shorn  of  its  power,  and  its  useful- 
ness in  promoting  progress  has  been  weakened.  Under 
the  reign  of  these  ideas  of  individualism  men  have  denied 
the  authority  of  government  over  their  private  and  busi- 
ness affairs,  and  have  demanded  that  they  be  left  free  to 
follow  what  they  call  the  natural  laws  of  trade.  Thus,  to 
mark  the  result  of  this  fear  in  one  realm  of  life,  there  has 
grown  up  an  industrial  system  that  in  many  respects  is 
more  unjust  and  oppressive  than  any  political  autocracy 
the  world  has  ever  known.  But  progress  means  social 
integration,  and  personal  liberty  comes  only  through 
social  control.  Progress  has  never  been  secured  merely 
by  the  making  of  good  individuals ;  in  fact,  the  good 
individual  is  himself  only  possible  through  the  morali- 
zation  of  society.  The  one  life  lives  and  flourishes  in  and 
through  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  all ;  and  in  and  through 
the  prosperity  of  all  the  one  life  is  preserved  and  en- 
riched. In  a  word,  it  is  in  and  through  social  integration 
and  control  that  the  one  life  comes  to  its  best  estate, 
and  it  is  in  and  through  the  general  will  that  the  individ- 
ual finds  his  own  will  enlarged  and  fulfilled. 

3.  And  once  more,  democracy  must  perfect  itself  in 
a  social  control  and  solidarity  that  protect  the  rights  of 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  247 

each  and  give  all  a  fair  inheritance  in  society.  The  doc- 
trine of  individualism  and  atomism  we  have  seen  is  a 
doctrine  of  anarchy  and  confusion,  and  can  never  bring 
social  peace  and  progress.  The  progress  of  man  and  the 
peace  of  society  can  come  only  in  and  through  a  political 
integration  and  social  solidarity  that  conserve  the  per- 
sonality of  each  and  yet  insure  the  welfare  of  all.  This 
means  not  less  government,  but  more ;  but  it  is  a  govern- 
ment by  all  and  for  all,  and  not  a  government  by  each 
and  for  each.  As  time  goes  by  and  men  become  more 
socialized  they  will  learn  that  government  is  the  medium 
of  the  mutual  sacrifices  and  services  of  the  people,  and 
they  will  learn  how  to  use  it  "  as  a  positive  progressive 
instrument  for  the  conscious  creation  of  public  welfare." 

This  new  democracy  will  be  a  people's  government  in 
the  best  sense  of  the  word.  The  difference  between  autoc- 
racy and  democracy  is  not  in  the  amount  of  govern- 
mental regulation,  for  in  a  democracy  there  may  be  more 
social  control  than  in  an  autocracy.  The  real  difference 
between  the  two  is  found  in  the  nature  and  incidence  of 
this  control.  That  is,  in  an  autocracy  the  government  is 
one  imposed  upon  the  people,  a  government  from  above 
and  over  their  heads,  a  government  that  in  no  sense  repre- 
sents the  conscience  and  will  of  the  people.  But  in  a 
democracy  we  have  a  government  of  the  people  and  by 
the  people,  a  government  that  is  in  the  people  and  through 
the  people,  a  government  that  represents  the  conscience 
and  will  of  the  citizens  themselves.  The  integration  and 
control  thus  represented  are  inevitable,  but  the  individual 
must  not  be  crushed,  and  his  own  initiative  must  not  be 
overridden.  There  is  one  power  and  only  one  that  can 
save  the  person  and  bless  society,  and  that  is  society  itself. 
"  There  is  one  form  of  government  that  is  stronger  than 
autocracy,  or  aristocracy,  or  democracy,  or  even  plutoc- 
racy, and  that  is  sociocracy  "  (Ward,  "  Psychic  Factors," 


248  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

p.  323).  Thus  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  this  age 
and  the  fulfilment  of  the  tasks  of  democracy  are  to  be 
found  in  the  establishment  of  a  genuine  people's  govern- 
ment— "  a  government  that  is  the  effective  expression  of 
the  public  will,  the  active  agency  by  which  society  con- 
sciously and  intelligently  governs  its  own  conduct " 
(Ward,  ibid.,  p.  329). 

In  view  of  what  was  said  in  the  second  section  of  this 
chapter,  it  is  evident  that  the  democratic  principle  must 
be  extended  and  applied  in  what  may  be  called  the  social 
and  industrial  realms  of  life.  It  is  impossible  here  to 
enter  upon  the  discussion  of  this  task  in  all  its  breadth  of 
meaning,  but  it  is  one  of  the  most  insistent  and  difficult 
of  modern  times.  The  fate  of  democracy  itself  as  a 
religious  principle  and  a  political  doctrine  is  at  stake 
here;  for  in  the  long  run  we  must  either  abandon  the 
democratic  faith  in  political  affairs  or  we  must  realize 
it  in  all  life.  We  cannot  permanently  maintain  a  civic 
State  based  on  democratic  principles  while  living  in  an 
industrial  society  that  is  oligarchic  both  in  form  and 
spirit.  "  No  man,"  said  Abraham  Lincoln,  "  is  good 
enough  to  rule  his  fellows."  If  this  saying  is  true  at  all, 
it  is  as  true  in  economic  and  industrial  affairs  as  it  is  in 
ecclesiastical  and  political  relations.  Equality  of  political 
rights  must  lead  to  equality  of  social  conditions ;  that  is, 
the  apportioning  of  well-being  according  to  the  work 
done.  "  Universal  suffrage  almost  demands  that  every 
one  shall  be  a  proprietor.  It  is  a  contradiction  that  the 
people  should  be  at  once  sovereign  and  miserable"  (De 
Laveleye,  "Contemporary  Review,"  1883).  Man  cannot 
be  a  sovereign  in  one  part  of  life  and  an  underling  in 
another.  We  cannot  have  a  government  of  the  people 
and  by  the  people  where  wealth,  which  is  the  necessary 
basis  of  life,  is  by  the  few  and  for  the  few.  Wealth,  like 
government,  springs  from  all  the  people,  and  therefore 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  249 

wealth  like  government,  must  be  for  all  the  people.  If 
manhood  is  dishonored  and  certain  inalienable  rights  are 
traversed  when  men  are  ruled  from  above  and  are  taxed 
without  their  consent,  manhood  is  no  less  dishonored,  and 
man's  rights  no  less  overridden  when  a  few  men  control 
the  industries  of  a  land  and  determine  the  conditions  of 
trade.  Democracy,  then,  is  little  else  than  a  name  in  an 
economic  and  industrial  oligarchy.  This  means  that  the 
democratic  principle  shall  be  so  extended  as  to  insure 
a  social  and  industrial  democracy.  It  means  that 
wealth  which  is  created  by  all  shall  be  administered  for 
all.  It  means  that  every  man  shall  have  a  share  in  the 
control  of  the  world's  industries,  and  that  the  gains  to 
each  shall  be  adjusted  according  to  the  measure  of  his 
contribution.  It  means  that  there  shall  be  such  a  com- 
bination of  labor  and  capital  in  the  same  hands  as  shall 
give  every  man  a  stake  in  the  enterprise  and  a  voice  in  its 
management.  It  means  that  man  is  something  more  than 
a  cog  in  a  machine  and  a  hand  in  a  factory,  and  that  he 
shall  have  a  voice  in  determining  the  conditions  of  his 
work  and  a  fair  share  in  the  profits  of  the  industry.  It 
means  that  the  system  of  co-operation  and  profit-sharing 
in  both  production  and  distribution  shall  be  so  extended 
as  to  provide  for  the  eventual  democratization  of  indus- 
trial life.  It  means  that  an  effort  shall  be  made  to  lift 
the  burden  of  poverty  from  every  man  and  to  make  it  pos- 
sible for  him  to  have  a  true  inheritance  in  the  State.  It 
means  that  every  man  shall  be  free  to  choose  his  work  in 
life,  and  that  no  man  shall  be  compelled  to  do  another 
man's  bidding.  It  means  that  a  limit  will  be  set  to  the 
amount  of  wealth  which  a  man  can  inherit,  and  that  wealth 
which,  in  the  last  analysis  is  a  social  product,  shall  recog- 
nize its  obligations  and  shall  be  held  in  trust  for  the  public 
weal.  It  means  that  in  modern  society  as  in  ancient 
Rome,  where  there  is  a  testamentary  disposition  of 


250 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


property,  this  power  conferred  on  the  heir  shall  always 
be  coupled  with  duties  to  be  performed  and  trusts  to  be 
discharged.  It  does  not  mean  an  equal  distribution  of  the 
wealth  of  the  nation,  nor  does  it  mean  that  the  profits  of 
those  who  toil  shall  be  expended  by  those  who  are  idle. 
It  does  not  mean  that  all  men  have  equal  capacity,  but  it 
does  mean  that  capacity  shall  be  honored  wherever  found, 
and  that  an  effort  will  be  made  to  develop  capacity  in  all. 
It  does  not  mean  that  any  man  shall  have  less  than  his 
share  in  the  total  product,  but  it  does  mean  that  no  other 
man  shall  have  more  than  his  just  share. 

This  democracy  of  industry  is  necessary  if  democracy 
in  politics  is  to  be  more  than  a  name.  In  this  democracy 
of  industry  the  interests  of  all  will  be  considered,  and  it 
will  not  be  necessary  for  men  to  organize  an  imperium 
in  imperio  in  order  to  secure,  sometimes  by  threat  of 
force,  their  rights  against  aggression  by  another  class. 
Thus,  we  have  labor  unions  wherein  men  unite  for  mutual 
advantage  to  secure  themselves  against  aggression  of  em- 
ployers. These  unions  are  no  doubt  serving  a  most  use- 
ful purpose  in  the  world,  and  are  training  men  in  what 
has  been  called  industrial  democracy.  Such  unions  and 
co-operative  enterprises  are  preparing  the  world  to  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  co-operation  and  are  teaching  them 
to  appreciate  the  need  of  social  democracy.  But  such 
unions  and  enterprises  are  themselves  a  confession  that 
government  does  not  yet  either  understand  or  fulfil 
its  true  functions.  If  government  did  its  full  duty  by 
all  its  members  and  were  fully  conscious  of  its  mission, 
such  unions  and  combinations  would  be  wholly  unneces- 
sary. The  fact  is  such  things  are  in  themselves  an  im- 
peachment of  government  and  show  plainly  that  it  is 
not  yet  fully  rational  or  consciously  democratic.  One 
may  deplore  the  blunders  of  these  labor  unions,  but  none 
the  less  these  unions  are  absolutely  the  only  thing  at 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  25 1 

present  that  stands  between  the  working  man  and  the 
killing  pace  of  modern  industrialism.  They  are  the  only 
agency  that  is  working  with  steady  aim  to  change  the 
often  intolerable  conditions  as  to  hours  and  wage  which 
impersonal  employing  corporations  make  inevitable.  "  If 
in  any  far  future  democracy  becomes  a  fact  with  all  its 
man-made  inequalities  removed — all  the  present  mock- 
eries gone  out — the  long  struggle  of  trade  unions  will  be 
written  down  among  the  heroisms  of  history "  (J.  G. 
Brooks,  "The  Outlook,"  Nov.  17,  1906). 

We  have  gone  so  far  in  the  political  history  of  man  as 
to  declare  that  all  men  are  created  equal,  and  that  they 
are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable 
rights ;  we  have  affirmed  that  government  rests  upon  the 
consent  of  the  governed  and  is  organized  to  secure  cer- 
tain great  ends.  But  thus  far  we  have  given  this  doctrine 
of  equality  a  political  significance,  and  have  limited  this 
affirmation  of  rights  to  civil  relations.  The  time  is  com- 
ing— it  is  now  here — when  we  must  declare  our  allegiance 
to  the  principle  of  social  equality.  The  work  of  estab- 
lishing this  industrial  and  social  democracy  is  the  great- 
est work  that  has  yet  been  undertaken  by  the  political 
State,  but  this  is  the  task  that  lies  fairly  before  the  State 
that  would  be  democratic  and  rational. 

4.  And  last  of  all,  and  as  the  sum  of  all,  democracy 
must  fulfil  and  complete  itself  in  a  democracy  of  all  life. 
For  nearly  four  hundred  years  there  has  been  a  dropped 
thread  in  the  loom  of  history,  and  as  a  consequence  the 
fabric  of  society  has  not  reached  its  full  beauty  and  per- 
fection. The  whole  movement  at  first,  as  embodied  in  the 
Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  a  struggle 
after  liberty  in  the  State  no  less  than  purity  in  the  Church. 
Out  of  this  movement  came  results  that  are  world-wide 
and  far-reaching,  and  we  of  to-day  feel  their  ground 
swell.     Out  of  this  struggle  came  the  separation  of 


252 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Church  and  State  with  the  whole  product  known  as 
political  democracy.  But  the  Reformation  movement 
soon  lost  some  of  its  early  enthusiasm  and  power,  and  as 
Macaulay  shows  in  his  famous  "  Essay  on  Von  Ranke," 
it  failed  to  achieve  the  highest  and  largest  results.  It  is 
true  that  out  of  this  great  movement,  in  one  of  its  minor 
streams  at  the  time,  came  far-reaching  results,  which  led 
directly  to  political  freedom  and  democracy  in  govern- 
ment. But  those  ideas  which  meant  social  justice  were 
strangely  overlooked  by  the  leading  reformers,  and  the 
men  who  pleaded  for  social  democracy  were  harried  and 
slain. 

In  these  later  times  a  new  aspiration  after  social  free- 
dom and  industrial  democracy  has  made  itself  manifest 
and  is  growing  more  insistent  from  year  to  year.  And 
one  of  the  most  significant  things  about  this  modern 
movement  is  the  vital  relation  that  exists  between  it  and 
the  early  ideas  of  the  Reformation.  Balfort  Bax,  in  his 
notable  studies  on  "  The  Social  Side  of  the  Reformation 
in  Germany,"  has  shown  that  the  early  movement  was 
as  much  a  social  as  a  religious  revolt.  So  also  in  a  sug- 
gestive book  on  the  Anabaptist  movement,  Richard 
Heath  has  emphasized  the  social  aspect  of  the  struggle 
of  the  peasants  for  justice  and  democracy.  The  reform 
before  the  Reformation  was  in  the  truest  sense  a  move- 
ment in  behalf  of  social  justice  and  universal  democracy. 
In  this  meaning  at  least,  those  who  are  in  any  religious 
sense  the  descendants  of  this  earlier  Reformation,  are  the 
people  who  should  be  vitally  interested  in  this  struggle 
for  social  democracy.  At  any  rate — and  this  is  the  fact 
that  may  be  emphasized — there  are  many  indications  that 
the  great  movement  for  human  freedom  and  social  justice, 
begun  in  the  Reformation,  is  about  to  take  on  new  life 
and  complete  itself  in  what  may  be  called  the  democracy 
of  all  life.    There  are  many  indications  that  the  demo- 


THE  UNFINISHED  TASKS  OF  DEMOCRACY  2$3 

cratic  spirit  that  has  wrought  in  the  centuries  producing 
ecclesiastical  liberty  and  political  democracy  is  at  work 
in  these  later  times  creating  a  new  aspiration  for  social 
justice  and  finding  a  new  incarnation  in  social  democracy. 
There  are  many  indications — to  change  the  figure — that 
this  dropped  thread  in  the  loom  of  history  is  about  to  be 
taken  up  again  and  is  to  be  given  its  fitting  place  in  the 
web  of  life  and  human  progress.  And  this  is  one  aspect 
at  least  of  the  new  task  that  now  confronts  democracy,  a 
task  to  which  the  providences  of  God  and  the  development 
of  society  have  fairly  committed  all  confessors  of  the 
democratic  creed. 

For  there  is  much  more  implied  in  the  idea  of  democ- 
racy itself  than  men  have  thus  far  recognized.  There  are 
implications  of  the  idea  that  men  thus  far  have  hardly 
begun  to  suspect.  In  human  thought  and  life  there  are 
several  great  vital  architectonic  principles  that  are  as 
fundamental  as  life  and  as  wide-reaching  as  the  nature  of 
man.  And  the  principle  of  democracy  is  one  of  these. 
For  democracy,  we  have  begun  to  realize,  is  less  a  form 
of  government  than  a  confession  of  faith ;  it  is  the  con- 
fession of  human  brotherhood  based  upon  the  divine 
Fatherhood ;  it  is  the  recognition  of  common  aims  and 
common  hopes ;  it  is  an  effort  to  realize  in  life  and  society 
the  great  fundamental  truths  of  man-liberty,  equality, 
and  fraternity;  in  the  truest  sense,  it  is  the  statement  of 
the  Christian  truth  that  one  is  your  Father  who  is  in 
heaven,  and  all  ye  are  brothers.  Since  this  is  so  the 
democratic  idea  is  a  universal  principle ;  it  cannot  be 
limited  to  any  one  sphere  and  relation  of  life ;  it  can 
only  become  real  as  it  finds  expression  in  all  the  realms 
and  institutions  of  society ;  to  limit  it  in  any  way  is 
treason  against  the  very  idea  itself.  Since  this  is  so 
democracy  will  never  be  more  than  a  name  and  an  ap- 
proximation till  it  is  thus  universalized  in  scope  and 


254 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


applied  all  along  the  line.  The  name  of  democracy,  we 
see,  is  one  thing,  and  the  fact  of  democracy  is  quite 
another  thing.  In  the  long  run  a  people  has  just  as  much 
democracy  as  it  practises  and  no  more.  And  in  the  long 
run  a  people  must  either  abandon  its  democratic  faith  or  it 
must  practise  that  faith  in  the  whole  of  life.  To  confess 
this  faith  against  the  world,  to  follow  this  ideal,  will 
require  a  brave  spirit  and  may  bring  misunderstanding. 
For  some  will  regard  all  this  discussion  of  the  democracy 
of  all  life  as  the  vain  fancies  of  an  idle  dreamer  and  will 
dismiss  the  whole  subject  with  a  smile  and  a  shrug; 
others  will  no  doubt  denounce  all  this  as  socialism  and 
may  try  to  warn  the  world  against  such  doctrines ; 
others,  it  may  be,  will  rejoice  in  all  this  as  the  common- 
wealth of  man,  and  may  regard  it  as  the  kingdom  of 
God  come  to  earth.  The  making  of  such  a  democracy  is 
the  best  evidence  that  man  can  give  that  he  is  working  in 
line  with  the  great  purpose  of  God  in  the  world.  The 
confession  of  any  faith  less  democratic  and  universal  than 
this  is  unworthy  of  the  men  who  profess  to  believe  in 
the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man. 


Book  III.  Christianity 


Look  almost  where  you  will  in  the  wide  field  of  history,  you 
find  religion,  wherever  it  works  freely  and  mightily,  either  giving 
birth  to  and  sustaining  States,  or  else  raising  them  up  to  a 
second  life  after  their  destruction.  .  .  The  truth  is  that  religion 
is  and  always  has  been  the  basis  of  societies  and  States.  It  is  no 
mere  philosophy,  but  a  practical  view  of  life  which  whole  com- 
munities live  by. 

— /.  R.  Seeley,  Natural  Religion,  pp.  188,  201. 

Christianity  is  essentially  a  political  principle  and  a  political 
power.  It  is  constructive  of  the  State,  and  bears  in  itself  the 
power  of  forming  the  State  and  of  developing  it  to  its  full  com- 
pleteness.      —Rake,  Theologische  Ethik,  Vol.  Ill,  Sec.  2. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  growing  self- 
consciousness  of  nations  and  other  social  organisms  will  play  a 
greater  and  greater  part  in  history,  and  that  what  we  call  prog- 
ress will  be  more  and  more  determined  in  pace  and  character  by 
the  capacity  which  a  nation  displays  for  the  conscious  rational 
ordering  of  its  resources. 

— John  Hobson,  The  Social  Problem,  p.  261. 

The  attempt  to  establish  the  social  and  political  relations  on  a 
religious  basis  is  the  most  divine  work  given  to  man.  It  is  an 
attempt  in  which  to  fail  is  better  than  to  succeed  in  any  other. 
It  is  an  attempt  which  must  be  renewed  again  and  again,  each 
time,  let  us  hope,  under  better  conditions,  until  it  succeeds;  for 
it  is  the  attempt  to  give  effect  to  the  redemption  of  the  world. 
—Fremantle,  The  World  as  the  Subject  of  Redemption,  p.  208. 

These  two  things — the  infinite  or  ideal  worth  of  every  man, 
and  the  sense  of  duty  that  comes  from  the  recognition  of  it — 
together  lay  the  ethical  foundations  of  democracy.  A  democratic 
society  exists  quite  as  much  to  make  new  rights  as  to  secure  the 
old  ones.  Within  it  no  privilege  should  be  allowed  to  gain  a 
foothold,  unless  it  looks  to  the  widening  of  the  area  of  privilege. 
The  fittest  to  survive  in  this  field  is  he  who  is  efficient  in  creating 
his  peers. 

— Henry  S.  Nash,  Genesis  of  the  Social  Conscience,  p.  222. 

And  I  saw  the  holy  city,  new  Jerusalem,  coming  down  out  of 
heaven  from  God,  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband. 

And  the  gates  thereof  shall  in  no  wise  be  shut  by  day — for 
there  shall  be  no  night  there ;  and  they  shall  bring  the  glory  and 
honor  of  the  nations  into  it. 

— The  Apocalypse,  XXI,  2,  25. 


XI 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE 

THERE  is  probably  no  question  of  political  thought 
more  full  of  difficulties  than  that  of  this  chapter. 
Light,  rather  than  heat,  is  the  one  desideratum  in  all 
clear  thinking;  but  heat,  rather  than  light,  too  often  has 
characterized  the  discussion  of  this  theme.  On  this  we 
have  views  the  most  divergent,  from  the  assumptions  of 
the  churchman  who  affirms  that  the  church  is  the  vice- 
gerent of  Christ,  and  hence  must  be  supreme  over  all 
interests  and  spheres,  to  the  views  of  those  reformers 
who  assert  that  Christ  has  nothing  to  do  with  political 
matters,  and  hence  the  State  and  the  Church  are  alien 
realms.  The  former  seek  to  unite  Church  and  State 
in  function  and  administration ;  the  latter  endeavor  to 
keep  the  two  entirely  apart  and  maintain  that  the  State  is 
best  governed  without  any  reference  to  religion. 

A  brief  outline  of  the  question  may  supply  us  with 
certain  principles  for  the  guidance  of  our  thought: 

I.  The  Conception  of  Church  and  State.  In  the  ancient 
world  the  conception  of  Church  and  State  as  separate 
institutions  did  not  exist.  The  idea  of  a  Church  apart 
from  the  State  never  entered  into  the  mind  of  man. 
"  With  the  peoples  of  the  ancient  world  the  State  was 
the  Church,  and  the  Church  was  the  State;  the  priest 
was  a  magistrate  and  the  magistrate  was  a  priest  (Blackie, 
"What  Does  History  Teach?"  chap.  ii).  The  gods 
were  believed  to  be  the  progenitors  of  men  and  nations, 
and  hence  they  had  a  personal  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  nation.  But  not  all  men  were  fitted  by  nature  or 
r  257 


258 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


experience  for  direct  and  personal  intercourse  with  the 
gods;  and  so  the  priest  became  necessary.  In  this  way, 
by  a  natural  process,  he  came  to  hold  supreme  rank  and 
to  have  a  commanding  control.  In  some  cases  the  priests 
ruled  directly  in  the  name  of  the  gods ;  in  others  kings 
were  the  representatives  of  the  gods,  and  either  them- 
selves were  priests  or  were  under  their  influence  and  con- 
trol (Bluntschli,  "The  Theory  of  State,"  Bk.  VI,  chap, 
vi).  In  these  circumstances  the  priest  and  king  might  be 
separate  personalities,  but  both  alike  were  officers  of  the 
State. 

In  some  lands,  as  in  India  and  Persia,  there  was  a 
priestly  class  which  more  or  less  dominated  the  entire 
life  of  the  people,  and  even  kings  and  rulers  were  depend- 
ent upon  it.  In  other  lands,  as  in  Greece  and  Rome,  no 
clear  distinction  was  made  between  the  king  and  the 
priest,  and  all  through  the  early  times  the  king  was  the 
ruler  of  the  people  and  had  the  supervision  of  the 
worship.  This  means  that  in  all  of  these  lands  no 
distinction  was  made  between  the  religious  and  civil 
institutions ;  in  all  cases  the  government  was  as  much 
concerned  with  religious  as  with  civil  affairs ;  and  no 
one  conceived  of  the  Church  as  distinct  from  the  State. 

Among  the  Semitic  peoples  we  find  much  the  same 
order  of  things,  though  with  some  signal  variations. 
In  the  early  times  there  was  little  or  no  differentiation 
of  the  religious  ceremonial  from  the  other  ceremonies  of 
man's  life.  There  was  a  priestly  class,  but  there  was  no 
religious  fellowship  as  distinguished  from  the  political 
State.  The  institutions  of  religion  appear  as  part  and 
parcel  of  the  general  political  and  social  life  of  the  people, 
and  hence  the  distinction  between  Church  and  State  is 
wholly  unknown.  This  is  not  all,  but  "  Religion  was  a 
part  of  the  organized  social  life  into  which  a  man  was 
born,  and  to  which  he  conformed  through  life  in  the 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  259 

same  unconscious  way  in  which  men  fall  into  any  habitual 
practice  of  the  society  in  which  they  live.  Men  took 
the  gods  and  their  worship  for  granted,  and  if  they 
reasoned  or  speculated  about  them,  they  did  so  on  the 
presupposition  that  the  traditional  usages  were  fixed 
things,  behind  which  their  reasonings  must  not  go,  and 
which  no  reasoning  could  be  allowed  to  overturn.  Re- 
ligious nonconformity  was  an  offense  against  the  State ; 
for  if  sacred  tradition  was  tampered  with  the  bases  of 
society  were  undermined,  and  the  favor  of  the  gods 
was  forfeited "  (W.  Robertson  Smith,  "  Religion  of 
Semites,"  p.  21). 

In  that  branch  of  the  Semitic  race  known  as  the  Jewish 
people,  we  find  all  of  these  customs  and  ideas,  though 
with  some  differences  that  are  quite  characteristic.  In 
the  early  days  of  Israel's  life  the  one  unit  of  society  was 
the  nation,  and  that  included  the  whole  life  of  man.  The 
laws  of  the  State  rested  upon  the  decrees  of  religion, 
and  the  ordinances  of  religion  were  enforced  by  the 
power  of  the  State.  In  all  the  earlier  times,  "  The  form 
of  the  Jewish  State  was  inseparable  from  the  idea  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  And  on  the  other  hand,  the  idea  of 
this  kingdom  of  God  was  inseparable  from  the  form  of 
the  Jewish  State  "  (A.  B.  Davidson,  "  O.  T.  Prophecy," 
p.  164).  This  order  of  things  continued  down  to  the 
time  of  the  great  prophets,  and  in  fact  was  never  wholly 
abandoned.  The  author  quoted  is  no  doubt  right  in  say- 
ing that  "  it  may  be  questioned  if  the  prophets  had  any 
idea  of  a  church  abstractly,  i.  <?.,  distinct  in  place  and 
form  from  the  Jewish  commonwealth,  or  a  thing  of  no 
place  or  form"  (ibid.,  p.  164). 

As  time  goes  by  several  sets  of  influence  are  at  work 
which  are  destined  to  produce  far-reaching  results.  For 
one  thing,  the  failure  of  the  nation  to  become  the  people 
of  Jehovah  and  to  fulfil  his  purpose  has  made  men  see 


260 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


that  the  true  Israel  is  not  all  Israel.  Then,  in  the  course 
of  time,  through  the  unfaithfulness  of  the  kings  and  the 
collapse  of  the  Jewish  national  State,  the  ground  is  grad- 
ually cleared  for  another  structure.  And  now,  out  of 
the  ruins  of  the  old  commonwealth,  there  emerges  an 
entirely  new  conception,  which  changes  the  whole  out- 
look. It  begins  to  appear  even  to  the  prophet  Isaiah  of 
Jerusalem  that  the  whole  people  of  Israel  cannot  be  the. 
kingdom  of  God.  It  begins  to  appear  that  there  must 
be  another  Israel  within  the  old  Israel,  a  community  of 
faithful  and  spiritual  men  in  whom  God  can  dwell,  and 
through  whom  he  can  work.  "  The  circle  that  gathered 
round  Isaiah  and  his  household  in  these  evil  days,  hold- 
ing themselves  apart  from  their  countrymen,  treasuring 
the  word  of  revelation  and  waiting  for  Jehovah,  were 
indeed,  as  Isaiah  describes  them,  '  signs  and  tokens  in 
Israel  from  Jehovah  of  hosts  that  dwelleth  in  Mount 
Zion.'  The  formation  of  this  little  community  was  a 
new  thing  in  the  history  of  religion.  Till  then  no  one 
had  dreamed  of  a  fellowship  of  faith  dissociated  from  all 
national  forms,  maintained  without  the  exercise  of  ritual 
services,  bound  together  by  faith  in  the  divine  word  alone. 
It  was  the  birth  of  a  new  era  in  the  Old  Testament 
religion,  for  it  was  the  birth  of  the  conception  of  the 
church,  the  first  step  in  the  emancipation  of  spiritual 
religion  from  the  forms  of  political  life — a  step  not  less 
significant  that  all  its  consequences  were  not  seen  till 
centuries  had  passed  ( W.  Robertson  Smith,  "  Prophets 
of  Israel,"  pp.  274,  275). 

There  is  one  other  factor  that  must  be  noted  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  idea  of  the  church.  The  Babylonian 
captivity  had  many  direct  and  indirect  influences  upon 
Israel's  life,  and  one  effect  is  seen  in  the  realm  of  religion. 
From  this  time  forward  Israel  is  in  subjection  to  foreign 
powers,  one  after  the  other,  with  only  an  occasional 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  26l 


flash  of  liberty  in  the  time  of  the  Maccabean  revolt. 
Civil  government  was  represented  by  a  hostile  and  hated 
foreign  power,  and  this  drove  the  people  back  upon  their 
religious  and  national  hopes  and  ideals.  In  a  way, 
religion  was  represented  by  the  people  of  Israel,  Jehovah's 
people ;  in  a  marked  way,  political  power  was  represented 
by  the  foreign  ruler,  the  alien  to  the  commonwealth  of 
Israel.  It  is  true  that  the  Hebrews  did  not  appreciate  the 
full  significance  of  all  this  at  the  time,  and  did  not  for- 
mally think  out  the  idea  of  the  worshiping  congregation 
as  distinguished  from  the  civil  community.  But,  none 
the  less,  the  germs  of  the  idea  are  there,  and  this  very 
fact  furnished  the  first  interpreters  of  Christ  with  a 
set  of  terms  in  which  to  set  forth  the  new  truths  of 
Christianity. 

II.  The  Formation  of  the  Christian  Church.  With  the 
rise  of  Christianity  in  the  world  a  new  set  of  ideas 
developed,  and  a  new  order  of  life  resulted.  The  Son 
of  man  came  and  lived  his  life  in  the  world,  gathering 
around  himself  a  company  of  disciples  who  entered 
into  his  purposes  and  hopes.  The  Master  plainly  inti- 
mates that  great  changes  are  before  men,  and  twice  at 
least  he  indicates  that  new  associations  will  be  formed 
among  them.  But  so  far  as  we  can  see  he  drew  up  no 
constitution  for  the  future  society,  and  he  gave  no  sys- 
tematic teaching  concerning  its  officers  and  their  func- 
tions. No  rules  of  order  are  framed  for  the  coming 
assembly,  and  no  rubrics  are  outlined  for  the  guidance 
of  its  worship.  At  length  the  leaders  of  the  nation  con- 
spired against  the  Master  and  secured  his  condemnation 
by  the  Roman  governor. 

I.  For  a  while  after  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  it  seemed 
that  the  company  of  disciples  was  about  to  disperse  and 
return  each  to  his  home  with  the  memory  of  a  lost  cause, 
but  no  plans  for  the  future.    But  the  good  news  of  the 


262 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


resurrection,  with  Jesus'  appearances,  recalled  the  des- 
pondent ones,  and  brought  them  to  Jerusalem  again.  In 
due  time  the  promised  Spirit  came  upon  the  company  of 
waiting  disciples,  and  they  began  to  magnify  the  name 
of  Christ.  It  was  not  long  before  this  enthusiasm  made 
these  men  bold  witnesses  for  Christ,  and  caused  allegiance 
to  him  to  rank  higher  than  obedience  to  the  Jerusalem 
authorities.  In  a  short  time  "  all  the  feelings  of  love 
and  reverence  for  the  nation,  for  the  family,  for  friends, 
cherished  in  each  individual  soul,  were  now  uprooted 
and  transferred  to  Jesus  and  his  followers"  (Wernle, 
"  Beginnings  of  Christianity,"  Vol.  I,  p.  128). 

It  is  interesting  but  useless  to  conjecture  what  might 
have  been  the  fortunes  of  the  church  and  the  develop- 
ments of  Christianity  if  the  Jewish  authorities  had  been 
more  favorable  to  the  new  movement.  At  first  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ  were  regarded  by  them  as  sectaries ;  but 
before  long  they  regarded  them  with  grave  suspicion ;  as 
time  went  on  this  suspicion  deepened  into  open  hostility 
and  hostility  led  to  bitter  persecution.  This  hostility 
drove  the  Christians  together  and  intensified  their  bond 
of  union.  The  very  efforts  put  forth  to  break  up  this 
new  movement  were  the  very  causes  needed  to  develop 
the  church  and  to  complete  and  compact  its  organization. 
Very  early  the  Jewish  authorities  resented  the  plain  decla- 
rations of  the  apostolic  preaching,  and  the  time  soon  came 
when  they  forbade  men  to  speak  in  the  name  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  The  time  came  when  these  converts  were  com- 
pelled to  decide  in  their  allegiance  between  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  Jewish  State ;  nor  did  they  long  hesitate.  Bound 
together  by  a  common  devotion,  and  moved  by  a  common 
hope  for  the  kingdom,  they  found  that  this  new  bond 
took  precedence  over  all  other  ties,  and  constituted  them 
a  new  community. 

There  was  one  other  factor  that  deepened  this  cor- 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  263 

porate  consciousness  and  forced  the  Christians  to  become 
separate.  The  time  came  when  men  outside  the  pale 
of  Judaism  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  church,  and 
this  brought  a  whole  set  of  new  problems.  These  men 
had  received  the  seal  of  the  Spirit — the  token  of  God's 
favor — and  as  they  were  accepted  of  God,  they  must  be 
approved  of  men.  It  is  not  easy  for  us  to  realize  the 
full  gravity  of  this  problem  and  to  appreciate  its  whole 
significance.  In  its  negative  results  it  implied  that  the 
new  bond  of  faith  was  stronger  than  the  old  bond  of 
race,  and  this  was  revolutionary.  In  its  positive  results 
it  made  these  believers  into  what  we  may  call  the  Christian 
church.  The  early  Christians  who  passed  through  these 
changes  felt  something  of  their  significance,  but  one  man, 
the  most  intensely  Jewish  in  his  upbringing  and  sym- 
pathies, the  Apostle  Paul,  most  clearly  foresaw  the  out- 
come, and  was  the  leader  in  the  movement.  In  the  most 
natural,  and  yet  in  the  most  inevitable,  way  the  new 
organization  was  created.  The  logic  of  events  brought 
the  disciples  face  to  face  with  new  problems  and  oppor- 
tunities, and  the  wisdom  of  the  Spirit  enabled  them  to 
appoint  new  officers  and  to  meet  the  demands  as  they 
emerged.  Thus,  by  slow  degrees,  the  new  body  was 
built  up  with  a  conscience  and  consciousness  of  its  own, 
and  with  an  organization  and  life  distinct  and  definite. 
Little  by  little  the  new  community  assumed  form  and 
shape,  and  more  and  more  it  differentiated  itself  from  the 
old  civil  community.  More  and  more  a  corporate  con- 
sciousness was  unfolded,  and  by  degrees  the  church 
assumed  visible  form  and  organic  structure. 

2.  In  the  course  of  time  the  church  arose  in  the  world 
and  began  its  long  process  of  historical  development. 
There  are  some  elements  that  are  never  found  in  a  pure 
state  in  nature,  but  always  in  combination  with  some 
other  substances.    They  have  such  an  affinity  for  these 


264 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


other  substances  that  it  is  with  difficulty  they  can  be 
separated  at  all.  What  we  call  Christianity  is  so  vital 
that  it  can  never  be  found  apart  from  life  itself;  it  comes 
to  us  in  life  and  it  expresses  itself  through  life,  and  it 
cannot  be  separated  from  its  human  media.  This  being 
so,  it  is  more  or  less  subject  to  the  chances  and 
changes  of  our  human  thought  and  social  development.  It 
does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  my  purpose  to  follow 
the  development  of  that  great  ecclesiastical  system  bear- 
ing the  name  of  Christ  and  claiming  the  exclusive  priv- 
ileges of  his  name.  We  are  concerned  with  the  relations 
between  this  catholic  church  and  the  political  State. 
"  The  most  interesting  side  of  the  Christian  consciousness 
of  being  a  people  is  what  may  be  termed,  in  the  nar- 
rowest sense  of  the  word,  the  political"  (Harnack, 
p.  322).  There  are  several  items  in  this  political  con- 
sciousness of  the  Christian  church  that  may  be  noticed. 

At  first  the  early  Christians  took  up  a  more  or  less 
negative  attitude  toward  the  State,  and  never  sought 
to  define  the  relations  between  themselves  and  it.  They 
lived  in  the  bright  hope  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  when 
the  world  and  all  its  institutions  would  pass  away  to 
give  place  to  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  reign  of  the 
Messiah.  For  the  sake  of  peace  and  a  good  conscience 
they  paid  their  taxes  and  obeyed  magistrates,  but  beyond 
this  they  regarded  the  State  with  indifference.  This 
attitude  is  marked  all  through  the  first  century  and  far 
on  into  the  second.  On  the  part  of  the  leaders  of  the 
church  during  all  this  time  there  was  a  careful  effort 
to  maintain  friendly  relations  toward  the  State,  and 
to  urge  one  another  as  Christians  to  be  in  subjec- 
tion to  civil  rulers.  Thus,  Paul  charges  men  to  be 
subject  to  the  powers  that  be,  on  the  ground  that 
they  are  ordained  of  God.  The  Apostle  Peter  expresses 
the  same  thought,  and  he  makes  honor  paid  the  emperor 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  265 

a  part  of  one's  duty  to  God  (i  Peter  2  :  13).  The  First 
Epistle  of  Clement  marks  a  new  era  in  that  it  contains  the 
first  petition  known  to  us  "  for  all  that  are  in  authority 
upon  earth ;  that  God  may  grant  them  health  and  wealth, 
and  peace  and  concord."  Other  teachers  charge  Chris- 
tians to  pray  for  the  rulers,  because  it  is  only  as  there 
is  peace  and  order  in  the  State  that  Christians  can 
practise  their  religion  in  tranquillity.  With  all  this,  how- 
ever, the  rank  and  file  of  the  people  took  up  a  negative 
attitude  toward  the  State  regarding  it  as  at  best  a  tempo- 
rary and  passing  institution. 

3.  But  the  time  came  when  the  State  assumed  the 
offensive  and  drew  the  sword  of  persecution.  It  is 
needless,  nor  is  there  space,  to  enter  upon  a  consideration 
of  the  causes  of  this  persecution,  but  they  were  many 
and  they  were  not  all  groundless.  After  a  short  panic 
in  Nero's  reign  that  was  more  personal  than  civil, 
the  State  settled  down  into  a  bitter  warfare  against  the 
new  religion,  and  for  generations  Christians  had  to 
endure  its  avowed  and  deadly  hostility.  With  this 
changed  attitude  of  the  State  toward  the  Church  we  may 
mark  a  change  of  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  church 
toward  the  Roman  government.  This  is  seen  in  the 
various  apocalyptic  writings  which  appeared  from  time 
to  time,  and  which  voiced  an  intense  and  yet  concealed 
hostility  to  the  civil  powers.  "  The  politics  of  the  Jewish 
apocalyptic  viewed  the  world-State  as  a  diabolical  State, 
and  consequently  took  up  a  purely  negative  attitude 
toward  it.  This  political  view  is  plainly  put  in  the 
Apocalypse  of  John,  where  it  was  corroborated  by  the 
Neronic  persecution,  the  imperial  claim  for  worship, 
and  the  Domitianic  reign  of  terror"  (Harnack,  "Ex- 
pansion of  Christianity,"  Vol.  I,  p.  323).  It  is  not  strange 
therefore  that  many  of  the  leaders  and  members  of  the 
church  should  take  up  a  suspicious  attitude  toward  the 


266 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


State,  and  should  even  regard  it  as  the  empire  of  Satan. 
In  various  other  writings  of  the  first  centuries  we  find 
divergent  views,  reflecting  the  local  sentiment  and  the 
ever-changing  attitude  with  reference  to  the  State.  The 
official  attitude  of  many  of  the  Christian  leaders  and 
apologetes  was  conciliatory  and  deferential,  and  an  effort 
was  made  to  show  that  Christians  are  not  hostile  to  the 
powers  that  be.  It  must  be  said,  however,  that  many  of 
the  great  leaders  and  apologetes  were  not  always  con- 
sistent, and  in  their  writings  we  find  words  which  show 
a  more  pronounced  suspicion  of  the  State.  This  is  seen 
in  such  a  writing  as  the  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  belonging 
to  the  early  decades  of  the  second  century,  which  declares 
that  while  Christians  dwell  in  their  own  countries,  yet 
they  are  simply  as  sojourners.  "  As  citizens  they  share 
in  all  things  with  others,  and  yet  endure  all  things  as 
if  foreigners."  Thus  also  the  Synod  of  Elvira  a  little 
later  ruled  that  "  whoever  held  the  office  of  duumvir 
must,  during  his  period  of  office,  remain  away  from 
church."  But  this,  it  may  be  said,  does  not  represent  the 
better  statesmanship  of  the  church,  which  rather  stood 
on  the  platform  of  conciliation.  It  is  possible  to  accuse 
some  of  these  leaders  and  members  of  insincerity  and 
contradiction  on  account  of  their  different  views  from 
time  to  time,  but  it  is  more  just  to  say  that  their  divergent 
views  reflect  rather  their  changing  and  manifold  moods. 

And  yet,  withal,  during  these  early  centuries,  we  can 
detect  a  deeper  note  that  is  prophetic  of  great  things  to 
come.  In  Origen  we  find  the  beginning  of  a  doctrine 
that  is  destined  to  reverse  the  Christian  hope  and  give 
men  a  new  conception  of  the  State.  In  his  reply  to 
Celsus  he  asserts  that  the  church,  the  universe  of  the 
universe,  is  the  future  kingdom  of  God,  destined  to  em- 
brace the  Roman  empire  and  all  humanity  itself,  to 
amalgamate  and  replace  the  various  realms  of  this  world. 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  267 

"  The  word  of  God  will  win  its  way,  and  all  religions 
will  vanish  leaving  that  of  Christ  alone  to  reign.  And 
reign  it  will  one  day,  as  the  word  never  ceases  to  gain 
soul  after  soul "  ("  Against  Celsus,"  Bk.  VIII,  chap, 
lxviii). 

It  may  be — who  can  say? — that  some  of  the  opposition 
and  persecution  encountered  was  necessary  in  order  that 
the  church  might  develop  a  self-consciousness  and  mighty 
compact  its  life ;  at  any  rate,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  Chris- 
tianity would  have  failed  utterly  in  its  higher  mission 
if  too  early  it  had  won  the  favor  of  rulers  and  had  come 
under  the  patronage  of  the  State. 

4.  The  time  came  when  the  church,  once  an  outlawed 
body,  became  a  great  compact  organization  with  numbers, 
wealth,  and  influence.  From  this  time  forth  it  is  an 
organization  that  must  be  reckoned  with,  and  even 
emperors  begin  to  treat  it  with  respect.  With  the  rise 
of  the  church  to  prominence  and  power  there  grew  up 
the  ambition  to  make  it  supreme  over  all  human  affairs. 
And  this  ambition  has  behind  it  two  very  different  mo- 
tives :  one  is  the  honor  of  Christ,  the  Head  over  all  things ; 
and  the  other  is  the  natural  desire  of  men  for  place  and 
power.  The  fortunes  of  the  church  are  changed,  and 
with  this  change  in  outward  fortune  there  comes  a 
change  over  the  inner  life  as  well. 

With  the  conversion  of  Constantine,  as  it  may  be  called, 
the  tendencies  that  were  at  work  came  to  the  surface, 
and  we  see  the  drift  of  things.  The  historian  Gibbon  is 
inclined  to  make  light  of  this  conversion,  and  does  not 
hesitate  to  attribute  Constantine's  change  of  attitude  to 
motives  of  public  policy.  Whatever  may  have  been  his 
motives  his  conduct  was  fraught  with  far-reaching  con- 
sequences and  produced  very  questionable  results. 
Thomas  Arnold  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  pre- 
tended conversion  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  to  the 


268 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  "  I 
look  upon  as  one  of  the  greatest  tours  d'adresse  that 
Satan  ever  played"  (Life  and  Corres.,"  Vol.  I,  p.  59). 
And  Doctor  Boardman  says,  "  The  most  ominous  day 
the  church  ever  saw  was  the  day  when  Constantine  the 
Great,  having  renounced  heathenism,  at  least  in  part, 
proclaimed  himself  the  imperial  patron  of  Christianity 
and  defender  of  the  faith.  That  alliance  of  Church  and 
State  set  back  the  church  for  centuries,  and  to  this  day 
she  is  reeling  beneath  the  satanic  stab  she  then  received  " 
(Boardman,  "  The  Kingdom,"  p.  214). 

It  was  reserved  for  a  later  age,  however,  to  follow  out 
these  tendencies  to  their  full  results,  and  then  to  seek  to 
justify  the  new  relation  of  Church  and  State.  In  course 
of  time  there  grew  up  in  the  medieval  world  the  theory 
that  Christendom  forms  one  great  whole,  and  that  there 
are  two  chief  functionaries,  the  pope  and  the  emperor, 
each  in  a  different  way  its  head.  Each  power  is  instituted 
by  God,  the  one  to  rule  over  men's  bodily,  the  other 
over  their  spiritual  interests.  "  The  pope,  as  God's  vicar 
in  matters  spiritual,  is  to  lead  men  to  eternal  life;  the 
emperor,  as  vicar  in  matters  temporal,  must  so  control 
them  in  their  dealings  with  one  another,  that  they  may  be 
able  to  pursue  undisturbed  the  spiritual  life,  and  thereby 
attain  the  same  supreme  and  common  end  of  everlasting 
happiness"  (Bryce,  "Holy  Roman  Empire,"  p.  102). 
"  This  is  the  one  perfect  and  self-consistent  scheme  of 
the  union  of  Church  and  State.  .  .  It  is  also  the  scheme 
which,  granting  the  possibility  of  their  harmonious  action, 
places  the  two  powers  in  that  relation  which  gives  each 
of  them  its  maximum  of  strength  "  (Bryce,  ibid.,  p.  104). 
But  it  is  evident  that  when  two  rulers  exist  side  by  side, 
one  or  the  other  must  have  higher  authority  and  final 
precedence.  There  were  great  minds  in  the  church, 
such  as  Hildebrand  and  Alexander,  who  were  content 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  269 

to  have  the  State  yield  obedience  to  the  Church  and  fulfil 
its  behests.  "  It  was  reserved  for  Boniface  VIII,  whose 
extravagant  pretensions  betrayed  the  decay  that  was 
already  at  work  within,  to  show  himself  to  the  crowding 
pilgrims  at  the  jubilee  of  A.  D.  1300,  seated  on  the  throne 
of  Constantine,  arrayed  with  sword  and  crown  and 
scepter,  shouting  aloud :  '  I  am  Caesar ;  I  am  emperor '  " 
(Bryce,  ibid.,  p.  106). 

As  might  be  expected,  there  was  vigorous  discussion 
over  these  growing  claims,  and  while  the  advantage 
was  now  with  the  temporal  power  and  now  with  the 
papacy,  in  the  end  the  victory  was  usually  with  the 
Church.  Pope  Innocent  IV  claimed  that,  inasmuch  as 
the  Lord  had  committed  to  St.  Peter  the  power  of  the 
keys,  the  apostle  and  his  successors  in  office  had  control 
over  all  the  spiritual  and  temporal  affairs  of  the  world. 
Not  all  the  popes  went  to  this  length,  but  they  one  and 
all  regarded  the  political  sovereign  as  the  right  arm  of 
their  will,  and  they  never  hesitated  to  use  that  arm  to  put 
down  opposition  and  to  promote  their  own  interests.  The 
baleful  effects  of  this  alliance,  both  to  the  Church  and 
the  State,  are  writ  large  on  the  pages  of  history  for  all 
the  world  to  read. 

III.  The  Separation  of  the  Church  From  the  State. 
To  tell  the  whole  story  of  the  separation  of  Church  and 
State,  both  in  theory  and  in  fact,  would  require  a  volume, 
and  cannot  be  here  attempted.  However,  to  understand 
this  whole  question,  we  must  keep  in  mind  some  of  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation,  as  defined  in  a  previous 
chapter. 

From  the  time  of  Constantine,  Church  and  State  are 
in  more  or  less  close  league  and  friendship,  and  each  is 
found  upholding  the  other  in  its  projects.  It  must  be 
said  that  many  beneficent  results  grew  out  of  this  alliance, 
and  the  Church  moved  the  State  to  issue  many  decrees 


270 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


that  made  for  human  betterment  and  social  progress. 
But  with  it  all,  as  Bryce  shows,  as  the  State  became 
milder  and  more  Christian,  the  Church,  which  had  as- 
sumed a  worldly  form  to  work  out  its  purposes,  became 
more  worldly  and  grew  less  regardful  of  the  interests 
of  the  people.  Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  the  State 
was  generally  autocratic  and  irresponsible,  and  was  used 
by  the  powerful  and  unjust  to  exploit  the  people  and  to 
further  their  own  schemes.  Little  by  little  the  govern- 
ments grew  away  from  the  people;  one  by  one  their 
privileges  were  taken  from  them ;  by  degrees  they  were 
reduced  to  the  condition  of  virtual  vassalage  and  slavery. 
In  Germany,  in  France,  in  Italy,  in  England,  the  same 
story  is  told — the  commons  claimed  by  the  nobles  and 
enclosed,  the  people  reduced  to  serfdom,  the  rights  of  the 
people  ignored,  and  their  cries  for  redress  scorned. 
Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  the  Church  itself  became 
unspiritual  and  worldly,  and  the  leaders  of  the  Church, 
with  few  exceptions,  vied  with  the  rulers  of  the  State  in 
measures  of  oppression  and  spoliation.  During  all  this 
time,  with  hardly  an  exception,  the  Church  rulers  sided 
with  the  civil  rulers  against  the  people,  and  employed 
the  machinery  of  religion  to  keep  them  in  submission. 
During  the  latter  ages,  when  the  power  of  the  Catholic 
Church  became  supreme,  the  civil  rulers  lent  their  aid  to 
suppress  heresy  and  to  compel  the  people  to  keep  in  the 
:  Church  fold. 

I.  At  various  times,  from  the  twelfth  century  onward, 
men  and  movements  arise,  now  here,  now  there,  in  pro- 
test against  all  this.  These  movements  have  been  looked 
upon  as  religious  in  spirit  and  aim,  but  while  they  were 
this  they  were  no  less  political  in  the  truest  sense.  The 
Waldensian  movement  in  the  Canton  of  the  Vaud,  the 
Wycliffe  movement  in  England,  the  protest  of  Savon- 
arola in  Florence,  the  Hussite  movement  in  Bohemia,  the 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  2"]\ 

Jacquerie  in  France,  and  the  Peasants'  war  in  Germany, 
were  quite  as  much  political  as  religious,  for  they,  one 
and  all,  voiced  a  protest  against  the  corruptions  of  the 
Church  and  the  usurpations  of  the  State.  And  in  all  of 
these  movements  men  sought  relief  from  the  wrongs  they 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  both  these  institutions. 

There  were  several  causes  that  contributed  to  stir  up 
the  people  to  protest  and  revolt.  For  one  thing,  the 
wrongs  endured  had  become  unendurable  and  men  felt 
that  they  had  nothing  to  lose  but  their  chains.  Then, 
through  the  revival  of  learning,  a  new  spirit  of  inquiry 
was  abroad  in  the  world,  and  many  old  forms  and  ideas 
began  to  be  questioned  and  denied.  Added  to  all  this, 
and  perhaps  the  most  potent  of  all,  the  Scriptures  were 
being  translated  into  the  language  of  the  people,  and 
men  everywhere  were  beginning  to  sigh  for  that  freedom 
which  Christ  had  promised.  The  seed  of  the  new  age  was 
sown  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  and  in 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  the  fruit  began  to  appear. 
Two  or  three  of  the  ancillary  movements,  making  for  the 
emancipation  of  both  Church  and  State  from  the  other's 
control,  may  be  noted  before  we  trace  the  main  stream 
that  flows  ever  onward. 

It  is  sometimes  supposed  that  Protestantism  means  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State,  but  this  is  very  far 
from  the  truth.  Protestantism  is  the  one  force  that  has 
-made  for  this  end,  and  its  service  to  human  emancipation 
is  simply  incalculable.  But  while  Protestantism  has 
done  much  to  break  the  alliance  between  the  Roman 
Church  and  the  political  State,  it  has  not  always  been 
true  to  its  fundamental  principles.  The  great  Reformers, 
Luther  and  Calvin,  Knox  and  Erasmus,  denied  the  right 
of  the  Roman  Church  to  employ  the  civil  power  to  com- 
pel faith  or  to  punish  dissent,  but  these  men  never  came 
out  into  the  full  light  of  the  complete  separation  of 


2^2 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Church  and  State.  The  fact  is  Luther  did  not  hesitate 
to  appeal  to  the  secular  arm  against  the  Anabaptists  and 
others.  Lutheranism  has  ever  been  associated  with  mon- 
archy and  civil  government ;  in  no  land  has  it  ever  meant 
political  democracy ;  where  it  prevails  Church  and  State 
are  in  firm  alliance  to-day.  The  name  of  Calvin  is  gen- 
erally associated  with  a  great  system  of  theology ;  but 
the  fact  is  Calvin  was  no  less  a  statesman  than  a  theo-j 
logian.  Calvinism,  wherever  it  has  appeared,  whether  in 
Switzerland  or  Scotland,  has  a  theocratic  tinge,  and 
means  the  union,  in  part  at  least,  of  Church  and  State. 
Thus  Calvin  himself  sought  to  establish  a  Christian 
commonwealth  at  Geneva,  and  for  years  he  was  its  chief 
director.  He  drew  up  a  Confession  of  Faith,  which  every 
citizen  was  required  to  sign,  and  thus  Church  and  State 
were  identical  in  their  component  members.  In  Scotland, 
since  the  time  of  Knox,  Church  and  State  have  been  more 
or  less  in  union.  The  General  Assembly  asserted  its 
"  right  to  treat  in  an  ecclesiastical  way  of  greatest  and 
smallest  affairs,  from  the  king's  throne  that  should  be 
established  in  righteousness,  to  the  merchant's  balance 
that  should  be  used  in  faithfulness."  In  this  land  the 
free  church  movement  has  assumed  large  proportions, 
but  it  has  not  yet  effected  complete  separation.  In  France 
an  interesting  chapter  of  history  is  being  written.  Here 
the  various  Churches  are  placed  on  an  equal  footing,  so 
far  as  the  State  is  concerned,  and  they  can  no  longer 
impose  civil  disabilities  upon  men.  From  the  side  of  the 
State  separation  is  a  fact  both  in  theory  and  in  practice ; 
but  from  the  side  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  this 
separation  is  denounced  and  the  papacy  is  in  conspiracy 
against  the  republic.  For  a  long  time  to  come  there  is 
likely  to  be  friction  between  Church  and  State  in  France. 

In  the  New  England  colonies  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State  was  first  achieved.    But  these  colonies,  with 


THE  RELATION*  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  273 

hardly  an  exception,  were  for  a  long  time  essentially 
theocratic,  with  Church  and  State  in  closest  union.  In 
the  Massachusetts  colonies,  both  Puritan  and  Pilgrim, 
none  but  members  of  the  churches  could  be  citizens  of 
the  State.  The  Puritans  were  less  tolerant  than  the 
Pilgrims,  and  sought  to  exercise  a  virtual  control  over 
man's  whole  inner  and  outer  life.  The  Puritan  common- 
wealth was  cast  in  an  ecclesiastical  mold,  and  was  de- 
signed to  uphold  the  framework  of  the  Church.  The 
Church  framed  the  legislation  of  the  State  and  the 
State  enforced  the  discipline  of  the  Church.  "  There 
never  was  a  government  where  the  civil  power  was  more 
completely  under  the  sway  of  the  Church  than  in  Massa- 
chusetts Bay"  (Straus,  "Roger  Williams,"  p.  45).  In 
1632  it  was  ordered  that  "  To  the  end  that  the  body  of 
the  commons  be  preserved  of  honest  and  good  men.  .  . 
for  the  time  to  come  no  man  shall  be  admitted  to  the 
freedom  of  the  body  politic  but  such  as  are  members  of 
some  of  the  churches  within  the  bounds  of  the  same." 
The  Pilgrims,  while  nonconformists  like  the  Puritans, 
had  gone  much  farther,  and  had  separated  themselves 
from  the  Established  Church  of  England.  Their  varied 
experiences  had  carried  them  a  long  way  toward  religious 
toleration,  and  in  their  colony  at  Plymouth  they  showed 
a  more  tolerant  spirit  than  their  Puritan  neighbors.  In 
1645  a  majority  of  the  House  of  Delegates  were  in  favor 
of  "  an  act  to  allow  and  maintain  full  and  free  toleration 
to  all  men  who  would  preserve  the  civil  peace  and  submit 
unto  government ;  and  there  were  no  limitations  or  ex- 
ceptions against,  Turk,  Jew,  Papist,  Arian,  Socinian, 
Nicolaitan,  Familist,  or  any  other " ;  but  the  governor 
refused  to  put  the  question,  and  so  stifled  the  law 
(Bancroft,  "  History  of  U.  S.,"  Vol.  I,  p.  214).  In  all  of 
these  colonies  Dissenters  suffered  some  disabilities,  and 
this  condition  of  things  continued  down  to  a  late  date  in 
s 


274 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


many  of  the  American  States ;  in  fact,  it  was  generations 
before  the  last  trace  of  union  was  removed  and  Church 
and  State  were  finally  separated. 

We  must  now  turn  back  to  follow  the  main  stream 
that  makes  for  the  complete  separation  of  Church  and 
State  in  theory  and  in  practice. 

2.  As  we  have  seen,  among  the  peoples  of  Germany  and 
the  Tyrol,  there  began  a  splendid  movement  in  behalf  of 
religious  liberty.  In  1524  the  Anabaptists  of  Swabia 
drew  up  a  declaration  of  principles  that  are  prophetic  of 
great  things  to  come.  These  articles,  which  Hiibmaier 
admitted  under  torture  he  had  revised,  declare  that 
"  Every  commune  has  the  right  to  choose  its  own  pastor, 
who  ought  to  teach  the  truth  of  God  without  human  ad- 
ditions." In  these  significant  articles  there  is  the  begin- 
ning of  the  doctrine  of  the  complete  separation  of  Church 
and  State.  These  Anabaptists  were  ruthlessly  suppressed 
throughout  Germany,  and  many  of  the  leaders,  such  as 
Hiibmaier  and  Denck,  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  civil 
rulers.  In  the  Netherlands,  however,  these  people  found 
somewhat  more  congenial  conditions,  and  William  of 
Orange  openly  defended  them  (Motley,  "The  United 
Netherlands,"  Vol.  I,  chap  ii).  Some  of  these  Ana- 
baptists sought  refuge  in  England,  and  settled  in  the 
southern  and  eastern  counties.  In  161 1  some  English 
Baptists  who  had  returned  to  Amsterdam  promulgated  a 
Confession,  or  declaration  of  faith,  in  which  this  article 
occurs : 

"  The  magistrate  is  not  to  meddle  with  religion  or 
matters  of  conscience,  nor  to  compel  men  to  this  or 
that  form  of  religion ;  because  Christ  is  the  King  and 
Lawgiver  of  the  church  and  conscience." 

"  It  is  believed  that  this  is  the  first  expression  of  the 
absolute  principle  of  liberty  of  conscience  in  the  public 
articles  of  any  body  of  Christians  "  (Masson,  "  Life  of 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE 


275 


Milton,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  101).  This  principle,  it  may  be  said, 
was  the  common  heritage  of  the  Baptists,  whether  on  the 
continent  or  in  England.  For,  in  1614,  Leonard  Busher, 
citizen  of  London,  put  forth  a  little  tract  on  "  Religious 
Peace,  or  a  Plea  for  Liberty  of  Conscience."  This,  says 
Masson,  is  the  earliest  known  English  publication  in 
which  full  liberty  of  conscience  is  openly  advocated,  and 
no  one  can  read  it  even  now  without  an  inspiring  thrill 
(ibid.,  p.  102).  This  was  followed  the  next  year  by  a 
dialogue,  "  wherein  it  is  proved  by  the  law  of  God,  by 
the  law  of  our  land,  and  by  his  majesty's  many  testi- 
monies, that  no  man  ought  to  be  persecuted  for  his 
religion,  so  he  testifie  his  allegiance  by  the  oath  appointed 
by  law."  This  treatise  by  Murton  was  doubtless  familiar 
to  Roger  Williams  before  going  to  America,  but  it  was 
well  known  to  him  at  a  later  time,  for  in  his  "  Bloudy 
Tenent,"  he  quotes  largely  from  it.  Thus  Masson,  than 
whom  there  is  no  more  authoritative  writer,  declares : 
"  Not  to  the  Church  of  England,  nor  to  Scottish  Presby- 
terianism,  nor  to  English  Puritanism  at  large,  does  the 
honor  of  the  first  perception  of  the  full  liberty  of  con- 
science and  its  first  assertion  in  English  speech  belong. 
That  honor  has  to  be  assigned,  I  believe,  to  the  independ- 
ents generally,  and  to  the  Baptists  in  particular  (Masson, 
"  Life  of  Milton,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  99). 

In  1 63 1  Roger  Williams  came  to  America  to  take 
charge  of  the  Puritan  church  in  Boston.  He  came 
to  Massachusetts  expecting  to  find  the  largest  liberty  in 
matters  of  religion,  but  he  soon  discovered  that  the 
government  of  the  colony  was  most  rigidly  theocratic, 
with  the  civil  government  strictly  subordinate  to  the 
ecclesiastical.  Williams,  though  not  yet  a  Baptist,  held 
the  Baptist  idea  with  reference  to  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  and  he  could  hence  ill  brook  this 
religious  despotism.  "  I  came  from  England  to  escape  the 


276 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


tyranny  of  the  Lords  Bishops,  he  said,  and  I  do  not  in- 
tend to  subject  myself  to  the  tyranny  of  the  Lords 
Brethren."  Church  and  State,  he  maintained,  should 
be  separate  and  independent,  and  the  magistrate  has 
nothing  to  do  with  matters  of  conscience.  In  July,  1635, 
he  was  summoned  to  Boston  to  answer  the  charges 
brought  against  him  at  the  general  court,  which  was  then 
in  session.  He  was  accused  of  maintaining  the  danger- 
ous opinion, 

"  That  the  magistrate  ought  not  to  punish  the  breach 
of  the  first  table,  otherwise  than  in  such  cases  as  dis- 
turb the  civil  peace  "  (Straus,  "  Roger  Williams,"  p.  49). 
But  Williams  utterly  refused  to  recant,  and  stoutly  main- 
tained his  ground.  In  October  he  was  again  summoned, 
not  to  be  retried,  but  to  be  sentenced,  unless  he  would 
retract.  Failing  to  move  him,  the  general  court  then 
pronounced  the  sentence  of  banishment,  and  ordered 
him  to  leave  the  colony.  In  the  dead  of  winter,  in 
January,  1636,  Williams  secretly  and  in  haste  departed 
from  Salem,  leaving  behind  him  his  wife  and  children, 
and  began  his  perilous  exile  alone,  to  seek  a  refuge 
from  the  tyranny  of  the  church  brethren.  Some  months 
later  he  was  joined  by  a  few  companions,  and  together 
they  sought  an  abode  beyond  the  Massachusetts  colony. 
Coasting  along  the  shore  they  entered  the  Mooshausick 
River  and  landed  at  a  place  to  which,  in  gratitude  to 
"  God's  merciful  providence  to  him  in  his  distress,"  he 
gave  the  name  of  Providence.  Here  Williams  founded 
a  colony,  in  whose  original  compact,  as  Jellinek  says, 
"  for  the  first  time  was  recognized  the  most  unrestricted 
liberty  of  religious  conviction."  Some  years  afterward  a 
more  definite  guarantee  was  given,  and  it  was  provided : 
"  We  agree,  as  formerly  hath  been  the  liberties  of  the 
town,  so  still,  to  hold  forth  liberty  of  conscience " 
( Staple's  "  Annals,"  p.  40).   Thus,  the  first  apostle  of  the 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  277 


inherent  and  sacred  rights  of  the  individual  conscience 
was  "  not  Lafayette,  but  Roger  Williams,  who,  driven 
by  a  powerful  but  deep  religious  enthusiasm,  went  into 
the  wilderness  in  order  to  frame  a  government  of  re- 
ligious liberty "  (Jellinek,  "  Rights  of  Man  and  the 
Citizen,"  p.  77).  The  city  of  Providence,  in  recent 
times,  has  erected  a  statue  to  the  memory  of  Roger 
Williams  in  grateful  acknowledgment  of  his  services  to 
the  cause  of  humanity.  Williams,  who  is  represented  as 
about  to  speak  in  an  assembly  of  the  people,  holds  in  his 
left  arm  a  book,  which  he  presses  against  his  breast ; 
on  the  cover  may  be  read  a  date  and  two  words,  "  Soul 
liberty."  In  this  date  and  in  these  words  we  may  sum 
up  the  glory  of  Providence  and  of  the  republic  of  which 
he  was  the  founder. 

3.  The  principle  of  soul  liberty  with  the  entire  sepa- 
ration of  Church  and  State,  yet  made  its  way  very  slowly 
in  the  other  colonies.  In  many  of  them,  however,  there 
were  men  who  believed  most  firmly  in  liberty  of  con- 
science, and  were  willing  to  endure  affliction  for  truth's 
sake.  In  1770  the  Baptists  of  Virginia  presented  a  peti- 
tion to  the  house  of  burgesses  remonstrating  against 
the  wrongs  to  which  they  were  subjected,  and  praying 
for  relief.  James  Madison  and  Patrick  Henry  defended 
the  petitioners  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  secure  them 
consideration  and  justice.  It  is  also  a  matter  of  record 
that  Thomas  Jefferson  was  friendly  to  the  Baptists.  In 
1774,  James  Madison,  writing  to  a  friend  in  Philadelphia, 
said :  "  That  diabolical,  hell-conceived  principle  of  perse- 
cution rages  among  some,  and  to  their  eternal  infamy 
the  clergy  can  furnish  their  quota  of  imps  for  such  pur- 
poses. There  are  at  the  present  time  in  the  adjacent 
county  not  less  than  five  or  six  well-meaning  men  in 
close  jail  for  proclaiming  their  religious  sentiments, 
which  are  in  the  main  quite  orthodox." 


278 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


But  the  Massachusetts  colony  was  not  one  whit  behind 
Virginia  in  its  severity  toward  dissenters,  and  the  early  an- 
nals of  that  State  record  how  Baptists  and  Quakers  were 
flogged  and  distrained  and  imprisoned  for  conscience'  sake. 
In  1774  the  Baptists  of  New  England  drew  up  a  memorial 
praying  for  relief  from  the  oppressive  measures  to  which 
they  were  subjected.  This  memorial  contains  a  ringing 
manifesto  of  the  doctrine  of  soul  liberty,  and  opens  with 
these  memorable  words :  It  has  been  said  by  a  cele- 
brated writer  in  politics  that  but  two  things  are  worth 
contending  for — religion  and  liberty.  For  the  latter 
we  are  at  present  nobly  exerting  ourselves  through  all 
this  extensive  continent ;  and  surely  no  one  whose  bosom 
feels  the  patriotic  glow  in  behalf  of  civil  liberty  can 
remain  torpid  to  the  more  ennobling  flame  of  religious 
liberty."  Then  follows  the  statement  that  the  inalienable 
rights  of  conscience  are  too  high  and  sacred  to  be  sub- 
jected to  fallible  legislators  inasmuch  as  "  this  dignity 
belongs  to  God  alone."  Then  follows  also  an  account  of 
the  disabilities  they  have  endured  throughout  the  colony, 
with  an  appeal  for  relief  and  justice.  This  memorial, 
signed  by  John  Gano,  moderator,  and  Hezekiah  Smith, 
clerk,  was  sent  by  the  hand  of  Isaac  Backus  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Continental  Congress  then  meeting  in 
Philadelphia.  Then  the  war  of  the  Revolution  came  on, 
and  for  a  time  all  such  questions  were  in  abeyance. 

After  the  Revolution  came  what  has  been  called  the 
critical  period  of  United  States  history.  The  old  articles 
of  federation  were  found  unsatisfactory,  and  a  conven- 
tion assembled  in  Philadelphia  to  take  thought  for  the 
common  safety.  After  weeks  of  debate  and  delay  a 
constitution  was  framed  that  must  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  great  documents  of  the  world.  But  many  of  the 
Baptist  leaders  who  had  all  along  been  so  insistent  on 
soul  liberty  felt  that  it  did  not  sufficiently  guarantee  this. 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  279 

Patrick  Henry  even  denounced  the  Constitution  in  that 
it  had  a  monarchical  squint  and  contained  no  guarantee 
of  religious  liberty.  The  Baptists  generally  accepted 
the  Constitution,  but  none  the  less  they  felt  that  it  should 
be  amended  in  one  respect  at  least ;  and  throughout  the 
country  organizations  were  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
so  amending  it  as  to  provide  complete  religious  liberty. 
On  Madison's  election  to  the  lower  House  he  was  con- 
sulted by  a  deputation  of  Baptists  wanting  to  know  what 
they  must  do  in  order  to  obtain  some  action  on  this  ques- 
tion. Madison  advised  them  to  consult  General  Washing- 
ton, which  they  did  in  an  address  entitled,  "  An  Address 
of  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Baptist  Churches  of 
Virginia,  Assembled  in  the  City  of  Richmond,  August 
8,  1789,  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  of 
America."  In  President  Washington's  reply  he  assured 
the  petitioners  of  his  sincere  appreciation  of  their  expres- 
sion of  confidence  and  promised  to  use  his  best  endeavors 
to  promote  their  prosperity  (James,  "  The  Struggle  for 
Religious  Liberty,"  pp.  173,  174).  Within  a  month  of 
this  time  James  Madison,  with  the  approval  and  concur- 
rence of  President  Washington,  brought  in  several 
amendments  to  the  Constitution,  and  himself  moved  the 
.adoption  of  "  Article  I.  Congress  shall  make  no  law  re- 
specting an  establishment  of  religion  or  prohibiting  the 
free  exercise  thereof ;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech 
or  of  the  press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to 
assemble  and  to  petition  the  government  for  a  redress  of 
grievances." 

For  a  century  and  more  the  United  States  stood  prac- 
tically alone  in  its  assertion  of  this  principle ;  but  France 
has  recently  taken  the  final  step  to  ensure  the  total  sepa- 
ration of  Church  and  State.  In  many  lands  a  practical 
toleration  of  all  faiths  is  permitted,  but  none  the  less 
there  is  some  kind  of  union.    In  all  enlightened  lands, 


28o 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


however,  the  drift  is  plain,  and  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State  is  only  a  matter  of  time. 

IV.  The  Relation  of  Church  and  State.  Many  at- 
tempts have  been  made,  first  and  last,  to  define  their 
relations,  to  find  some  modus  vivendi,  and  to  effect  some 
compromise  between  these  two  great  powers.  No  inquiry 
could  be  more  fundamental  and  practical  than  this,  for 
upon  its  right  solution  depend  not  only  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  Church,  but  the  life  and  perpetuity  of 
the  State.  The  time  has  come  surely  for  men  to  con- 
sider the  essential  elements  in  the  relations  between  these 
two  powers,  and  then  to  adjust  these  relations  in  reason 
and  right.  It  may  be  said  that  the  attempted  solutions 
of  this  question  of  the  relation  of  Church  and  State  have 
not  by  any  means  proved  fully  satisfactory,  and  this  leads 
us  to  believe  that  there  are  certain  factors  that  have  been 
more  or  less  ignored.  There  must  be  some  positive  re- 
lation that  is  both  conceivable  and  possible,  and  this  posi- 
tive relation  we  must  endeavor  to  find.  A  few  consider- 
ations in  behalf  of  this  is  all  that  can  be  here  offered. 

There  are  several  possible  relations  that  may  exist 
between  the  Church  and  the  State,  and  all  of  these  find 
illustration  in  whole  or  in  part  in  some  age  or  place. 
There  is  first,  the  sovereignty  of  the  one  over  the  other, 
with  the  subordination  of  the  one  to  the  other.  There  is 
the  union  of  the  two  in  some  form,  with  certain  legal 
and  formal  conventions  and  agreements.  There  is  the 
complete  separation  of  the  two,  both  in  form  and  in 
spirit,  with  each  keeping  to  its  own  province  and  making 
no  formal  recognition  of  the  other.  There  is  what  may 
be  called  the  higher  unity  of  the  two,  with  both  co- 
operating, each  in  its  own  way  toward  a  common  end,  and 
with  the  most  friendly  relations.  And  there  is  another 
possible  conception,  the  gradual  merging  of  the  two 
in  some  larger  whole,  in  which  each  shall  lose  its  identity 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  28l 

and  both  shall  find  fulfilment  in  the  perfected  kingdom 
of  humanity.  The  first  three  views  are  more  or  less 
historical  and  actual ;  the  last  two  represent  the  goal 
toward  which  our  humanity  is  making. 

1.  Sovereignty  and  subordination.  There  are  those,  as 
Hobbes,  who  maintain  that  the  State  should  be  sovereign 
in  religion  no  less  than  in  civil  matters,  and  so  far  as 
there  is  any  church  at  all,  it  should  be  under  State  con- 
trol. This  is  State  Csesarism  and,  while  it  may  have  been 
possible  under  ancient  forms  of  religion,  it  is  simply  im- 
possible where  Christianity  is  known.  A  church  that  is 
organized  upon  Christian  principles,  a  church  that  ac- 
knowledges Jesus  Christ  as  its  Lord  and  life,  cannot  con- 
cede the  sovereignty  of  the  State  in  matters  of  faith  and 
conscience ;  this  far  at  least  it  must  be  independent. 

The  reverse  of  this  view  is  found  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
conception,  which  asserts  the  virtual  sovereignty  of  the 
Church  over  the  State.  The  Romanist  upholds  this 
relation  on  the  plea  that  the  Lord  Jesus  is  the  one  sole 
and  supreme  head  over  all  things  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 
But  the  church  is  created  to  represent  him,  and  the  pope 
as  the  head  of  the  church  is  his  vicar  to  govern  in  his 
name.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  church  must  be  supreme 
and  must  have  some  headship  over  the  State.  This  posi- 
tion of  the  Catholic  Church  is  made  plain  in  various  dec- 
larations, in  bulls  and  encyclicals.  Thus  Pope  Pius  IX, 
in  his  encyclical  letter,  December  8,  1864,  anathematized 
"  Those  who  assert  the  liberty  of  conscience  and  of 
religious  worship  " ;  also  "  All  such  as  maintain  that  the 
Church  may  not  use  force."  In  a  sermon  preached 
when  he  was  archbishop.  Cardinal  Manning  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  the  pope  these  significant  words :  "  I  acknowl- 
edge no  civil  power ;  I  am  the  subject  of  no  prince ;  and 
I  claim  more  than  this :  I  claim  to  be  the  supreme  judge 
and  director  of  the  consciences  of  men;  of  the  peasant 


282 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


that  tills  the  field,  and  of  the  prince  that  sits  upon  the 
throne ;  of  the  household  that  lives  in  the  shade  of  privacy, 
and  the  legislator  that  makes  laws  for  kingdoms.  I  am 
the  sole,  last,  supreme  judge  of  what  is  right  and  wrong." 
The  Catholic  claim,  it  is  evident,  is  really  the  subordi- 
nation of  the  State  to  the  Church,  rather  than  a  union  of 
Church  and  State. 

In  this  Catholic  view  the  church  and  the  kingdom  of 
God  are  practically  synonomous  terms  and  conterminous 
realms.  They  who  are  in  the  church  are  in  the  king- 
dom, and  vice  versa.  Nullus  salus  extra  Ecclesiam. 
There  is  no  salvation  outside  of  the  Church.  The  king- 
dom of  God  is  supreme  over  all  human  affairs,  and  as  the 
church  is  the  kingdom,  at  least  in  its  human  form,  the 
church  should  be  supreme  over  all  human  relations.  The 
Catholic  is  logical  at  least  in  his  argument,  and  granting 
his  premises  there  is  no  escape  from  his  conclusion. 

2.  The  union  of  Church  and  State.  The  various 
Protestant  bodies  that  advocate  the  union  of  Church  and 
State  adduce  other  reasons,  and  these  are  worthy  of  care- 
ful consideration.  It  is  not  an  easy  question  to  decide 
who  shall  be  spokesmen,  for  many  clear-sighted  thinkers 
have  dealt  with  this  question,  and  while  they  agree  in 
the  main  they  differ  widely  in  details.  Perhaps  no  better 
representatives  of  the  more  moderate  Protestant  view  can 
be  found  than  Thomas  Arnold  and  Bishop  Martensen, 
though  in  saying  this  one  seems  to  ignore  such  men  as 
Hooker  and  Whately,  Coleridge  and  Gladstone,  Maurice 
and  Westcott.  But  with  it  all  these  two  may  be  taken  as 
representatives  of  the  higher  and  more  Christian  view 
of  union.  Thus  Arnold  saw,  what  many  others  have  seen, 
that  no  State  can  long  prosper  and  endure  without  re- 
ligion ;  he  protested  also  and  most  vigorously  against  the 
false  distinction  between  secular  and  sacred  things,  as  this 
distinction  is  accentuated  by  those  who  advocate  the 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  283 

separation  of  Church  and  State ;  and  he  counseled  all 
sovereigns,  magistrates,  and  legislators  to  regard  them- 
selves as  functionaries  of  the  Christian  church.  Further, 
he  saw  that  there  must  be  some  sovereign  power  in 
society,  and  by  the  nature  of  the  case  there  cannot  be 
two  sovereign  powers ;  in  so  far  as  there  are  two  powers 
each  claiming  to  be  sovereign,  that  far  we  have  conflict. 
And  so  he  pleaded  for  the  identification  of  Christian 
with  political  society  as  the  only  mode  of  reconciling  their 
differences  and  of  bringing  society  to  its  true  goal 
("Fragments  on  Church  and  State;  Life,"  Vol.  I,  p. 
204). 

Martensen  believed  very  strongly  in  the  Christian 
State,  and  no  less  strongly  that  the  Christian  Church  is 
necessary  for  the  existence .  and  the  perfection  of  the 
State.  He  protested  against  the  false  notions  of  individ- 
ualism and  found  in  them  the  destruction  of  both  religion 
and  society.  "  They  who  advocate  a  free  church,  by 
desiring  only  a  flock  of  awakened  and  regenerate  men, 
abandon  the  great  multitude  of  the  young  and  ignorant 
who,  unless  soma.one  takes  them  up,  fall  a  prey  to  irre- 
ligion  and  all  kinds  of  error."  He  would  therefore  have 
a  State  Church,  which  should  represent  all,  which  should 
claim  all  for  the  kingdom  of  right  and  truth,  which  should 
place  all  under  the  influence  of  tradition  and  authority, 
and  should  represent  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth 
(Martensen,  "Ethics,  Social,"  Sec.  152-156). 

The  verdict  of  history  upon  the  union  of  Church  and 
State  in  any  form  or  fashion  does  not  speak  in  its  favor. 
The  more  fully  we  study  its  historical  aspects  the  more 
clearly  do  we  see  that  it  has  resulted  disastrously  for 
both.  It  has  meant  the  perversion  of  government  from 
its  rightful  ends  and  its  employment  in  behalf  of  meas- 
ures that  lay  beyond  its  real  purpose.  It  has  meant  the 
secularization  of  the  church  and  its  pursuit  of  ends 


284 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


that  lie  beyond  its  true  scope.  The  day  the  State  became 
allied  with  the  Church,  that  day  it  began  to  proscribe  men 
for  their  opinions  and  to  use  its  civil  authority  to  guide 
their  faith.  In  course  of  time  inquisitions  are  built  and 
prisons  are  filled  with  the  best  and  bravest;  through  all 
the  Middle  Ages  we  find  Church  and  State  in  league 
to  suppress  free  thought  and  to  forbid  all  dissent.  "  Half 
the  wars  of  Europe,  half  the  internal  troubles  that  have 
vexed  European  States,  from  the  Monophysite  contro- 
versies in  the  Roman  empire  of  the  fifth  century  down  to 
the  Kulturkampf  in  the  German  empire  of  the  nineteenth, 
have  arisen  from  theological  differences,  or  from  the 
rival  claims  of  Church  and  State  "  (Bryce,  "  The  Ameri- 
can Commonwealth,"  Vol.  II,  p.  554). 

This  is  not  all.  The  day  that  the  Church  became 
allied  with  the  State,  that  day  the  State  began  to  exert 
a  repressive  influence  upon  the  Church,  and  that  day  the 
Church  began  to  lower  its  standards  to  suit  the  con- 
venience of  the  State.  The  Church  was  dependent  upon 
the  State  for  favors,  and  these  favors  were  conditioned 
upon  the  Church's  friendliness  toward  the  powers  that 
be.  Under  such  circumstances  the  Church  became  the 
defender  of  the  State.  It  became  a  silent  witness  of 
grave  oppression  where  it  did  not  openly  defend  it. 
Through  all  the  Middle  Ages  there  runs  the  same  mo- 
notonous and  doleful  tale — the  churches  uniting  with 
the  nobility  against  the  poor  and  defenseless  and  employ- 
ing the  machinery  of  religion  to  keep  them  submissive. 
The  clergy  admitted  to  a  share  of  the  wealth  of  the 
nobles,  too  often  became  the  supporters  of  the  nobles 
against  the  wronged  and  oppressed.  It  matters  little 
what  qualifying  word  is  used,  whether  Romanist,  Lu- 
theran, Greek,  or  English  Church,  the  same  condition 
obtains  and  the  same  charge  may  be  preferred.  To-day 
in  all  lands  where  these  Churches  have  long  held  sway, 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  285 

we  behold  the  same  sad  spectacle  of  the  deep  and  bitter 
alienation  of  the  people  from  the  State  Church.  In  Italy, 
in  Spain,  in  France,  in  Russia,  in  Germany,  and  in  Eng- 
land, we  are  confronted  with  the  same  momentous  result. 
Because  of  this  alliance  with  the  State  the  Church  has  lost 
its  power  of  testifying  for  God's  kingdom  and  its  right- 
eousness, and  has  too  often  become  the  subsidized  de- 
fender of  the  government  in  its  schemes  of  spoliation 
and  oppression.  In  view  of  the  facts  one  is  justified  in 
saying  that  this  union  of  Church  and  State  is  little  else 
than  the  crime  and  blunder  of  the  ages. 

And  the  very  argument  that  Is  advanced  in  favor  of 
the  alliance  of  Church  and  State  breaks  down  in  face  of 
the  actual  facts.  Thus,  in  lands  where  there  is  an  Estab- 
lished Church,  it  is  found  that  the  Church  is  not  at  all 
conspicuous  for  its  fidelity  in  shepherding  the  common 
people;  indeed,  quite  the  reverse  is  the  case.  For  a 
thousand  years  and  more  the  Church  has  been  dominant 
in  Italy,  Spain,  France,  and  Russia,  and  the  amount  of 
illiteracy  in  these  countries  is  alarmingly  great,  while  the 
moral  life  of  the  people  is  deplorably  low.  The  condition 
of  things,  even  in  England  and  Germany,  is  not  such 
as  to  admit  of  much  boasting  on  the  part  of  churchmen. 
From  every  point  of  view  the  union  of  Church  and  State 
has  been  attended  with  unfortunate  consequences  to 
both.  It  has  not  by  any  means  made  for  the  welfare  of 
man  or  the  progress  of  society,  and  contains  little  promise 
for  the  future. 

3.  The  separation  of  the  Church  and  the  State.  In 
modern  times  we  find  a  large  body  of  men  who  oppose  the 
union  of  Church  and  State  Tn  any  form.  They  maintain 
that  either  the  subordination  of  the  one  to  the  other  or 
the  union  of  the  two  in  any  form  is  wholly  unsatisfactory, 
in  theory  and  application.  They  hence  demand  the  entire 
seoaration  of  Church  and  State,  and  insist  that  there 


286 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


shall  be  no  alliance  between  them.  Since  we  find  differ- 
ent classes  of  persons  demanding  this  separation,  though 
from  very  different  motives  and  with  very  different 
reasons,  it  is  not  easy  to  give  a  brief  statement  of  this 
view.  Thus  Christians  and  unbelievers  both  advocate  the 
same  theory ;  and  the  agreement  of  parties  so  diverse  is 
well  calculated  to  occasion  serious  thought  on  the  part  of 
Christians  themselves.  Irreligious  men  demand  the  sep- 
aration of  the  Church  from  the  State  on  the  ground  that 
religion  is  a  private  matter,  and  that  the  State  is  best 
governed  without  any  religious  interference.  In  the 
name  of  religion  men  demand  this  separation  on  the  plea 
that  the  union  of  the  Church  with  the  State  is  hurtful  to 
the  cause  of  true  religion,  and  that  it  diverts  the  State 
from  its  proper  functions. 

It  may  be  said  that  many  of  those  Christians  who 
advocate  the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  do  so  on 
the  ground  that  the  church  and  the  kingdom  of  God 
are  practically  synonymous  terms.  But  they  go  farther 
than  either  the  Romanist  or  the  Protestant  in  their  con- 
ception of  the  kingdom,  and  construe  the  term  in  its  nar- 
rowest significance.  With  many  of  them  the  church,  which 
is  equivalent  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  the  one  sacred  realm 
of  life,  and  all  the  other  interests  that  lie  beyond  this 
realm  lie  practically  outside  of  the  kingdom.  That 
sacred  and  divine  things  may  be  kept  apart  from  secular 
and  human  things  the  church  must  be  separated  from  the 
State.  Not  all  Christians  who  advocate  complete  sepa- 
ration would  agree  to  this  statement;  and  many  of  those 
who  believe  most  strongly  in  this  separation  have  never 
thought  their  view  through  in  all  its  bearings  and  im- 
plications. But  the  time  has  come  for  men  to  give  a 
reason  for  their  views,  and  to  advocate  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State  for  Christian  reasons.  Not  one  of  the 
views  thus  far  considered  is  wholly  satisfactory,  and  not 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  287 

yet  have  we  found  the  real  Christian  reason  for  sepa- 
ration, nor  the  true  relation  between  these  two  great 
divine  institutions. 

4.  The  Kingdom,  the  Church,  and  the  State.  We 
have  seen  that  the  subordination  of  the  Church  to  the 
State  is  objectionable  from  every  point  of  view,  and  can- 
jnot  be  admitted  for  a  moment.  The  subordination  of  the 
State  to  the  Church  is  no  less  objectionable,  and  impos- 
sible in  these  latter  days.  We  have  seen  that  the  union  of 
Church  and  State,  in  any  form,  is  not  satisfactory,  and 
more  and  more  men  are  growing  away  from  this  concep- 
tion. We  have  seen  also  that  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State,  where  such  separation  means  suspicion  and 
friction,  where  two  great  institutions  exist  side  by  side 
without  any  recognition  on  the  part  of  either  of  the 
other's  presence,  is  no  less  unsatisfactory  and  unchris- 
tian. It  is  admitted  that  the  dualistic  conception  of  life 
is  not  satisfactory,  with  the  Church  and  the  State  each 
claiming  authority  over  separate  spheres ;  for  life  cannot 
be  broken  up  in  this  fashion,  and  humanity  cannot  live 
under  such  a  divided  kingship  without  suffering  irrep- 
arable loss  in  moral  and  spiritual  power.  Nor  can  it  be 
claimed  that  we  have  found  the  final  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem when  we  have  established  the  free  Church  in  the 
free  State,  for  in  such  cases  the  boundaries  of  the  two 
institutions  are  never  clearly  delimited  and  a  hundred 
and  one  questions  of  jurisdiction  are  certain  to  arise. 
What  we  need,  therefore,  it  is  evident,  is  some  concep- 
tion of  human  society  which  shall  include  both  the  Church 
and  the  State,  some  great  synthesis  which  shall  show  the 
relation  of  the  one  to  the  other  and  bring  them  into  har- 
mony. The  controversies  and  conflicts  between  the  two 
can  never  be  ended  by  the  conquest  of  the  one  by  the 
other,  but  the  submission  of  both  to  the  whole  of  which 
they  are  only  parts. 


288 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


This  larger  whole,  this  great  synthesis,  Christians  be- 
lieve, is  given  to  men  in  the  great  ideal  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  In  these  latter  times  they  have  begun  to  con- 
sider, as  never  before,  this  master  thought  of  Jesus' 
teaching,  and  it  is  breaking  upon  them  almost  as  a  new 
revelation.  It  has  become  plain  that  the  idea  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  a  great  all-comprehensive  idea  that 
defines  the  whole  purpose  of  God  for  this  world ;  it  has 
become  plain  also,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  a  great 
social  synthesis  that  includes  within  its  scope  the  whole 
life  of  man.  In  this  kingdom  are  included  all  his  rela- 
tions and  institutions ;  and  in  it  every  man  and  every 
institution  have  their  appropriate  place  and  work.  The 
three  great  institutions  of  men's  life,  the  family,  the 
Church,  and  the  State,  are  all  so  many  realms  in  which 
the  life  of  the  kingdom  seeks  expression  and  realization. 
These  cover  the  entire  range  of  human  life,  and  their 
perfection  implies  the  perfection  of  mankind.  Each  has 
its  own  functions  to  fulfil,  though  all  co-operate  toward 
the  one  common  end.  The  kingdom  of  God,  the  divine 
ideal  and  human  synthesis,  includes  all  of  these  institu- 
tions ;  and  these  institutions  are  created  and  designed  that 
they  may  seek  the  kingdom  of  God.  Of  each  the  life 
of  the  kingdom  is  the  vitalizing  and  creative  life ;  of  each 
the  principles  of  the  kingdom  are  the  great  informing, 
constitutive,  and  architectonic  ideas.  Through  each  of 
these  institutions  some  aspect  of  the  kingdom  is  revealed 
and  some  interest  of  the  kingdom  is  served ;  through  all  of 
these  institutions  together  the  whole  life  of  man  is  blessed 
and  the  whole  purpose  of  God  is  fulfilled. 

The  Church  and  the  State  are  both  institutions  of  the 
kingdom,  and  as  such  each  has  a  work  to  do,  and  both 
sustain  a  vital  relation  to  one  another.  The  most  stu- 
pendous and  tragic  blunder  of  the  ages  has  been  the 
confounding  of  the  kingdom  and  the  church,  with  the 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  289 

claim  of  the  church  to  be  the  kingdom  of  God.  The 
kingdom  is  the  larger  category,  and  it  alone  is  the  final 
and  eternal  thing.  All  of  the  meaning  of  this  great 
truth  we  cannot  here  consider,  but  in  the  conception  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  we  are  confident,  is  to  be  found  the 
determination  of  the  relation  of  Church  and  State. 

5.  The  unity  of  the  Church  and  the  State  in  the  king- 
dom. In  the  light  of  this  great  synthesis  we  find  several 
things  for  our  guidance. 

The  relations  of  the  Church  and  the  State  are  sug- 
gested by  the  very  nature  of  the  institutions  themselves. 
The  Church  differs  from  the  State  in  its  nature  and  con- 
stitution. The  church  is  a  voluntary  society  made  up  of 
those  who  freely  and  fully  make  choice  of  Christ  and  ac- 
cept membership  in  it.  No  man  is  a  member  of  any 
church  by  virtue  of  his  natural  birth ;  in  every  church 
membership  in  the  body  is  a  matter  of  profession  or  of 
faith.  Thus  membership  in  the  church  is  voluntary  from 
beginning  to  end ;  continuance  in  the  church  and  obedi- 
ence to  its  teachings  are  matters  of  personal  choice.  The 
State,  however,  is  a  more  or  less  natural  institution,  whose 
citizens  are  born  within  its  territory  and  are  subject  to 
its  jurisdiction.  Citizenship  in  the  State  and  obedience 
to  its  laws  are  thus  in  nowise  dependent  upon  the  volun- 
tary act  of  man.  By  virtue  of  his  birth  one  may  claim 
his  place;  and  by  virtue  of  its  nature  the  State  may 
claim  authority  in  all  things  that  affect  its  life. 

Again,  the  relations  of  Church  and  State  are  made 
evident  by  considering  them  with  reference  to  their 
spheres  and  aims.  The  church  has  to  do  primarily  with 
thoughts,  motives,  and  affections,  the  moral  and  spiritual 
nature  of  man,  and  it  accomplishes  its  best  results  by 
the  use  of  moral  and  spiritual  means.  The  State  has  to  do 
primarily  with  external  conditions;  with  the  civil  and 
social  life  of  man;  and  may  employ  means  to  further 

T 


290 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATH 


these  interests.  The  reign  of  God  includes  the  rule  of 
Caesar,  and  the  rule  of  Caesar  should  recognize  the  reign 
of  God.  With  the  things  of  God,  with  matters  of  con- 
science and  questions  of  belief,  Caesar  has  nothing  to  do 
except  so  far  as  they  lead  to  outward  acts  and  unsocial 
conduct.  The  citizen  whose  outward  life  is  above  re- 
proach may  say  to  the  civil  ruler  who  would  constrain  in 
such  matters :  Whether  it  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to 
hearken  unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye;  but 
we  cannot  but  think  and  speak  the  things  we  deem  true. 
Into  the  inner  sanctuary  of  conscience  where  God  and 
man  meet,  the  civil  magistrate  dares  not  enter ;  there  alone 
with  God  the  soul  must  decide  its  course.  The  very 
nature  of  religion  is  travestied  when  Church  or  State 
seeks  to  enforce  its  opinions  to  compel  the  conscience 
and  overpower  the  will.  The  very  nature  of  the  moral 
and  spiritual  life  implies  the  soul's  freedom.  In  all  the 
world,  says  Kant,  there  is  nothing  that  can  be  called  un- 
conditionally good  except  the  good  will ;  and  the  will  is 
good  in  so  far  as  it  is  free. 

The  Church  and  the  State  can  best  serve  mankind  and 
help  one  another  by  each  being  true  to  its  own  mission 
and  each  following  its  own  method.  Thus,  with  the 
particular  policies  of  the  churches,  with  their  internal 
administration  and  discipline,  the  State  has  nothing  to  do. 
With  questions  of  doctrine  and  worship,  with  the  organ- 
ization of  the  churches,  with  their  officers  and  their  suc- 
cession, the  State  has  no  concern.  For  these  matters  lie 
wholly  within  the  range  of  the  individual  conscience  and 
spiritual  administration,  and  the  government  as  such  has 
no  obligation  in  such  spheres.  And  on  the  other  hand, 
with  the  particular  policies  of  the  State,  with  questions 
of  administration  and  method,  the  churches  have  nothing 
to  do.  With  political  platforms  and  reform  programmes 
the  churches  have  no  concern.    But  with  the  conscience 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE  2gi 


back  of  platforms,  with  the  spirit  finding  expression  in 
reforms,  the  churches  have  everything"  to  do,  and  they 
neglect  a  large  part  of  their  mission  when  they  neglect 
these  things.  The  peculiar  province  of  the  church  is  the 
moral  and  spiritual  nature  of  man;  its  special  sphere  is 
the  conscience  and  the  will ;  its  method  of  work  is  in- 
struction and  persuasion ;  and  its  crown  of  glory  is  fallen 
into  the  dust  when  it  descends  from  its  throne  and 
contemns  its  own  methods. 

6.  Thus  in  the  relation  of  each  institution  to  the  king- 
dom of  God  we  see  the  relation  between  these  institutions 
themselves.  It  is  evident  that  both  Church  and  State  are 
subordinate  to  the  kingdom,  and  so  neither  can  be  sub- 
ordinate to  the  other  without  disloyalty  to  the  great 
ideal  for  which  they  both  exist.  They  who  have  claimed 
the  subordination  of  the  State  to  the  Church  have  done 
so  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  it  is  strange  that 
they  have  not  seen  the  arrogance  of  their  claim.  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Christian  believes,  is  head  over  all  things, 
both  principalities  and  powers,  and  it  is  a  colossal  assump- 
tion for  any  man  or  institution  to  claim  headship  for  him. 
We  could  as  easily  tolerate  a  State  supremacy  over  the 
Church  as  a  Church  supremacy  over  the  State.  The  fact 
is  the  church  itself  is  subordinate  to  Christ,  and  has  no 
warrant  for  assuming  lordship  over  the  other  spheres  of 
li-fe.  The  Romanist  is  eternally  right  when  he  claims 
that  the  State  must  be  subordinate  to  Christ,  and  must 
seek  his  kingdom  in  the  world ;  but  he  is  as  eternally 
wrong  when  he  claims  that  Christ  has  delegated  his 
authority  to  another,  be  that  a  man  or  an  institution.  The 
Protestant  is  eternally  right  when  he  demands  the  sepa- 
ration of  Church  and  State  in  the  interests  of  both,  but 
he  is  as  eternally  wrong  when  he  construes  this  separation 
to  mean  the  divorce  of  religion  from  civil  affairs  and  the 
abandonment  of  the  State  as  a  secular  institution.  The 


292 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


fact  is  the  age-long  conflict  between  these  institutions 
will  cease  and  they  will  learn  to  live  together  in  peace  in 
the  unity  of  the  spirit,  when  each  learns  that  it  is  here  to 
serve  the  common  life,  and  both  begin  to  co-operate  in 
behalf  of  man's  social  progress.  In  administration  each  is 
independent  of  the  other,  and  neither  should  seek  to  con- 
trol the  other's  machinery.  The  subordination  of  the 
Church  to  the  State  means  the  loss  of  spiritual  freedom, 
and  authority  on  the  part  of  the  church;  and  the  soul 
loses  the  sense  of  accountability  to  God  in  its  subjection 
to  the  human  power.  The  subordination  of  the  State  to 
the  Church  leads  invariably  to  the  secularization  of  the 
church,  and  means  grave  danger  to  the  higher  liberties 
of  conscience.  The  devotion  of  each  institution  to  the 
one  great  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth — 
though  they  may  seek  that  kingdom  by  different  methods 
— unites  both  institutions  in  many  common  enterprises 
and  promotes  a  feeling  of  friendship  between  them.  It 
may  be  that  the  time  is  coming  when  the  Church  and  the 
State  will  gradually  merge  into  each  other,  and  that  each 
will  lose  its  identity  in  the  perfected  kingdom  of  hu- 
manity. The  seer  foretells  the  time  when  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdom  of  our  God  and 
of  his  Christ.  And  the  same  seer  beholds  the  city  of 
God  that  comes  down  to  earth,  and  declares  that  he  saw 
no  temple  therein. 

In  conclusion,  we  find  that  the  State,  in  order  to  be  free, 
to  make  progress  and  fulfil  its  true  functions,  has  had 
to  separate  itself  from  the  church.  And  the  church,  in 
order  to  live  its  true  life,  to  do  its  work  and  serve  the 
higher  interests  of  man,  has  had  to  free  itself  from  the 
State  and  its  dominion.  But  Church  and  State  have 
become  thus  differentiated  in  form  and  function  that  they 
may  become  truly  complementary  institutions  and  may  at- 
tain the  higher  unity  of  the  spirit.   In  a  word  Church  and 


THE  RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE 


293 


State  attain  a  separate  and  distinct  life,  with  each  reali- 
zing its  true  functions  in  the  world,  yet  with  both  co- 
operating toward  the  one  end,  in  order  that  both  may 
find  their  higher  unity  in  the  spirit  and  may  together 
seek  the  kingdom  of  God. 


XII 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION 

IN  all  ages  and  lands  religion  has  been  the  potent  factor 
in  human  life,  and  the  central  feature  of  human  his- 
tory. The  chief  fact  with  regard  to  a  man,  says  Carlyle, 
is  his  religion.  A  comparison  of  beliefs  and  laws,  says 
Fustel  De  Coulanges,  will  show  that  religion  constituted 
not  alone  the  Greek  and  Roman  family,  but  formed  a 
still  larger  association,  the  city,  and  reigned  in  that  as  it 
had  reigned  in  the  family.  From  it  came  all  the  institu- 
tions as  well  as  all  the  private  law  of  the  ancients.  It 
was  from  this  that  the  city  received  all  its  principles,  its 
rules,  its  usages,  and  its  magistracies  ("The  Ancient 
City,"  p.  12).  In  religion,  says  Benjamin  Kidd,  we  have 
the  characteristic  feature  of  social  evolution;  and  the 
history  of  our  Western  civilization  is  largely  but  the  life- 
history  of  a  particular  form  of  religion,  and  of  wide- 
extending  and  deep-seated  social  movements  connected 
therewith  ("  Social  Evolution,"  chap.  iv).  "  The  truth  is," 
says  Professor  Seeley,  "  that  religion  is  and  always  has 
been,  the  basis  of  societies  and  States.  It  is  no  mere 
philosophy,  but  a  practical  view  of  life  which  whole  com- 
munities live  by.  .  .  From  history  we  learn  that  the  great 
function  of  religion  has  been  the  founding  and  sustain- 
ing of  States.  And  at  this  moment  we  are  threatened  with 
a  general  dissolution  of  States  from  the  decay  of  religion  " 
("Natural  Religion,"  pp.  201,  202).  This  means  that 
the  kind  and  quality  of  a  people's  religion  will  both  create 
and  determine  their  social  and  political  institutions.  And 
this  means  that  the  decay  and  degeneration  of  a  people's 
294 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION 


social  and  civil  life  can  be  traced  back  to  the  decline  and 
decay  of  their  religion.  In  view  of  all  this  the  question 
of  this  chapter  is  probably  the  most  vital  that  can  engage 
our  attention. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  this  larger  question  of  the  State 
and  its  religion  has,  in  these  Western  lands  in  modern 
times,  been  narrowed  down  to  the  smaller  one  of  the 
relation  of  Church  and  State.  This  latter  question  has 
played  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  political 
thought ;  and  it  promises  to  play  an  even  more  important 
part  in  the  drama  of  the  future.  In  the  United  States 
and  France  a  temporary  solution  and  a  working  modus 
vivendi  have  been  discovered.  But  it  is  evident  to  all 
careful  observers  that  the  present  relation  is  not  by  any 
means  the  solution  of  the  problem,  and  the  last  word  on 
the  question  has  not  been  spoken. 

It  is  unfortunate  also  that  this  smaller  question  of  the 
relation  of  Church  and  State  has  had  such  a  variety  of 
answers  in  Western  Christendom.  For  one  thing,  this 
whole  movement  in  behalf  of  liberty  of  conscience  and 
the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  has  been  largely 
negative  in  character.  In  fact,  the  entire  democratic 
movement,  as  we  have  seen,  has  been  in  a  marked  degree 
a  negative  movement,  and  being  such  it  has  not  had  its 
perfect  work.  In  this  struggle  for  emancipation,  liberty 
has  appeared  rather  as  a  pioneer  than  as  a  builder;  and 
though  it  has  voiced  a  protest,  it  has  not  preached  a 
gospel.  For  liberty  that  means  simply  the  assertion  of 
one's  rights  against  another  man's  claims  is  only  a  half- 
truth,  and  must  be  supplemented  by  the  other  truth  of  the 
recognition  of  one's  duties  to  man  and  to  society.  So  also 
the  principle  of  the  separation  of  Church  and  State  has 
had  a  negative  application,  and  hence  falls  short  of  the 
Christian  ideal.  Too  often  it  has  meant  suspicion  and 
protest  on  the  part  of  these  two  institutions  as  against 


296 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


each  other.  Such  an  attitude  is  both  misleading  and 
dangerous,  and  cannot  be  the  final  thing.  In  protest 
against  the  evils  and  errors  of  the  union  of  Church  and 
State — evils  that  cannot  be  exaggerated,  and  errors  the 
most  pernicious — men  are  in  danger  of  going  to  extremes 
and  of  living  by  negatives. 

For  another  thing,  the  separation  of  Church  and  State, 
with  many,  has  meant  the  divorce  of  religion  from  civil 
and  social  affairs.  From  the  side  of  religion  and  from 
that  of  politics  men  have  taken  this  view.  They  have 
said  that  religion  is  wholly  a  personal  matter,  and  has 
to  do  with  the  inward  and  spiritual  life ;  at  least,  it  is 
concerned  with  the  relation  between  God  and  man,  and 
has  nothing  to  do  with  secular  concerns.  Others  have 
said  that  the  State  is  wholly  a  secular  institution  with  its 
own  life  and  work;  and  it  can  best  fulfil  its  mission  and 
promote  social  well-being  without  any  reference  to 
religion.  No  mistake,  it  may  be  said,  could  be  more  fatal 
than  this,  both  from  the  side  of  religion  and  from  the  side 
of  the  State ;  and  no  policy  could  lead  to  more  disastrous 
results  both  in  State  and  in  Church. 

For  a  third  thing,  this  question  of  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  with  all  its  incidental  questions,  has 
brought  us  face  to  face  with  one  of  the  most  serious 
dangers  that  can  threaten  a  people.  In  the  lands  where 
this  separation  has  been  effected  it  is  found  that  the 
religious  world  is  broken  into  different  Churches  and 
organizations.  These  bodies  have  their  own  views  of  truth 
and  their  own  interests  to  serve,  and  each  is  more  or  less 
suspicious  of  the  others.  On  this  account  it  is  found  im- 
possible to  secure  any  unity  of  action  in  religious  educa- 
tion and  social  reform.  There  is  an  imminent  danger,  as 
Sir  Oliver  Lodge  shows,  lest  the  nation  in  despair  of 
any  happier  settlement  of  this  question,  should  consent  to 
a  system  of  compulsory  secularism,  and  forbid  in  the 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION 


297 


schools  any  mention  of  a  Supreme  Being.  And  "  if  so 
ghastly  a  negation  is  brought  about  by  the  warfare  of 
denominationalism,  it  will  be  a  most  lamentable  result  " 
("  The  Substance  of  Faith,"  p.  iv).  In  view  of  all  this  it 
is  necessary  that  men  deal  with  this  larger  question 
involved  in  the  problem,  and  consider  the  place  of  religion 
.in  the  life  of  the  State.  But  in  order  to  do  this  we  must 
know  something  of  the  nature  of  religion  itself,  and  espe- 
cially of  that  form  known  as  the  religion  of  Christ.  In 
much  of  the  discussion  of  this  mooted  question  there  lurks 
a  serious  error,  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  neither  party 
understands  the  other's  terms. 

I.  The  Nature  and  Function  of  Religion.  It  is  not 
possible  here  to  enter  upon  a  full  discussion  of  the  nature 
of  Christianity  or  to  attempt  to  define  its  sphere.  It  may 
be  said,  however,  that  Christianity  does  not  mean  many 
of  the  things  that  men  have  tried  to  make  it  mean.  It 
is  a  serious  question  whether  the  men  who  have  tried 
to  delimit  the  Christian  spirit  have  not  done  the  very  thing 
against  which  Jesus  protested  with  his  life. 

I.  It  is  needless  here  to  give  the  varied  definitions  of 
religion  that  have  been  framed.  In  all  of  these  definitions 
there  are  certain  elements  in  common,  and  these  are  the 
essential  and  constant  qualities.  Religion,  in  one  aspect  at 
least,  is  the  sense  of  man's  relation  to  the  Divine  Ruler  of 
the  world,  with  the  sense  of  dependence  upon,  and  obliga- 
tion to  him.  Religion,  in  another  aspect,  is  the  sense  of  the 
ideal  in  human  life,  with  an  earnest  direction  of  the  affec- 
tions and  will  toward  that  ideal  and  the  abiding  effort  to 
realize  it  in  daily  life.  And  thus  it  is  that  religion 
comprehends  the  highest  ideals,  the  deepest  emotions,  the 
strongest  obligations,  and  the  most  potent  efforts  of  the 
human  heart  and  will.  In  fine,  it  may  be  said  that  religion 
is  the  apprehension  of  the  divine  ideal  by  man,  with  his 
emotions  in  presence  of  this  ideal. 


298 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


This  is  religion  in  general,  but  the  Christian  religion 
means  this  with  one  element  added,  and  this  is  the  per- 
sonal element.  The  religion  of  Christ  is  the  sense  of  one's 
relation  to  the  heavenly  Father,  with  the  sense  of  depend- 
ence upon  him  and  the  filial  desire  to  do  his  will.  In  the 
other  aspect  it  is  the  apprehension  of  the  ideal  of  Christ, 
both  for  man  and  for  society,  with  a  whole-hearted  de- 
votion to  him  and  an  all-controlling  desire  to  realize  his 
ideal  in  life  and  in  society. 

2.  For  a  second  thing,  we  find  that  religion  ever  tends 
to  become  organic  and  to  express  itself  in  forms  and 
institutions  of  some  kind.  This  is  true  of  all  religions, 
and  it  is  peculiarly  true  of  the  Christian  religion.  Al- 
ways and  everywhere  the  Christian  spirit  tends  to  incar- 
nate itself  in  forms  and  institutions  that  express  its  life 
and  become  identified  with  its  fortune.  And  yet  it  is  evi- 
dent that  religion  is  one  thing,  and  the  institutions  of 
religion  are  quite  another  thing.  For  this  reason  they 
wholly  misunderstand  the  nature  of  Christianity  who 
would  identify  it  with  any  of  the  forms  and  formulas 
which  it  has  created.  It  is  a  serious  error  to  think  of 
Christianity  as  a  vague,  abstract,  indefinite  spirit  that  can 
live  in  the  air  and  subsist  without  any  form  or  habitation. 
But  it  is  a  no  less  serious  error  to  limit  Christianity  to 
certain  definite  and  specific  institutions,  and  to  bind 
up  its  fate  and  fortune  with  any  of  the  institutions  that 
may  bear  its  name.  The  ideal  is  one,  but  the  ideals  are 
many.   Religion  is  one,  but  religions  are  diverse. 

3.  Again,  to  know  the  sphere  of  Christian  manifesta- 
tion we  must  know  what  is  the  essential  idea  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  has  become  evident  that  the  idea  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  the  very  center  and  circumference  of  the 
Christian  system.  This  idea  is  woven  into  the  warp  and 
woof  of  the  Christian  Scriptures.  It  is  the  master- 
thought  of  Jesus'  life  and  teaching.    It  is  the  central 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION 


299 


truth  of  Christianity  around  which  all  other  truths  stand, 
and  from  which  they  derive  their  meaning.  This  kingdom 
is  nothing  less  than  the  inner  and  essential  meaning  of 
the  world. 

The  kingdom  of  God,  for  the  present  at  least,  is  an 
ideal  hovering  high  over  the  actual  life  of  the  world. 
But  every  ideal  with  vitality  seeks  embodiment  in  some 
man  or  society  or  institution,  and  this  is  peculiarly  sol 
of  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom.  In  the  lives  of  men  this  life 
of  the  kingdom  is  seen,  and  there  are  men  who  stand  forth 
as  living  representatives  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  But 
the  kingdom  is  not  only  a  personal  ideal,  but  a  social 
ideal  as  well ;  in  fact,  our  whole  humanity  is  designed  to  be 
the  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit  (Eph.  2  :  22). 
In  what  is  called  the  church  we  have  one  of  the  institu- 
tions of  the  kingdom  and  one  of  the  agencies  for  its  exten- 
sion in  the  world.  But  a  natural  and  inevitable  question 
meets  us  at  this  point :  Is  the  church  the  sole  institution 
of  Christianity?  When  the  Christian  spirit  has  created 
the  Christian  church,  has  it  fulfilled  its  whole  mission  in 
the  world  ?  The  very  conception  of  the  religion  of  Christ, 
the  very  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  forbids  such  a 
conclusion.  And  so  we  must  widen  the  boundaries  of  the 
kingdom  till  they  have  included  all  the  relations  and 
institutions  of  man's  life,  the  family,  and  the  State,  no 
less  than  the  church.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  an 
institution,  and  it  never  can  be  wholly  contained  in  one. 
Yet  it  is  designed  to  be  the  vitalizing,  informing,  constitu- 
tive principle  of  every  institution  on  earth  or  in  heaven. 
In  the  kingdom  of  God  are  found  those  necessary  social, 
architectonic  principles  which  are  at  once  the  fundamental 
basis,  the  regulative  ideal,  and  the  constitutive  power  of 
all  human  relations,  interests,  and  institutions.  The 
church  is  thus  one  of  the  institutions  of  the  kingdom,  but 
the  church  and  the  kingdom  are  not  by  any  means  idem 


300 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


tical  and  conterminous.  The  kingdom  is  the  larger 
category  and  includes  not  alone  the  church,  but  all  the 
other  institutions  and  relations  of  man's  life. 

4.  This  enables  us  to  see  the  relation  of  the  religion 
of  Christ  to  the  life  of  the  State.  By  the  very  nature  of 
the  case  the  principles  of  Christ  cannot  be  limited  to  any 
one  sphere  of  life,  but  must  apply  to  all  life  and  must 
color  all  relations.  The  religion  of  Christ,  which  is  the 
religion  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  must  have  to  do  with 
civic  and  social  affairs  no  less  than  with  personal  and 
ecclesiastical  matters.  By  the  nature  of  the  case  it  must 
create  and  determine  all  the  institutions  of  man's  being. 
The  church  is  one  of  the  institutions  of  the  Christian 
spirit,  an  important  one  indeed ;  the  one  institution  that  is 
in  a  way  especially  charged  with  the  task  of  propagating 
religion.  But  this  does  not  mean  that  the  other  institu- 
tions of  man's  life,  such  as  the  family  and  the  State,  are 
non-religious  realms,  and  that  with  them  religion  has  con- 
sequently little  or  nothing  to  do.  The  religion  of  Christ 
is  as  free  as  the  air  and  as  universal  as  the  sunshine,  and 
it  can  no  more  be  limited  to  the  church  than  the  sunlight 
can  be  confined  in  one  room,  or  the  air  can  be  claimed 
by  one  person.  By  its  very  nature  it  is  diffusive  and  uni- 
versal, and  is  designed  to  include  all  life  and  to  determine 
all  relations. 

For  this  reason  they  who  would  exclude  religion  from 
political  affairs  show  an  utter  misconception  of  the 
nature  of  religion  and  the  work  of  the  church.  It  matters 
not  whether  this  divorce  is  pronounced  in  the  name  of 
religion  or  of  politics,  it  is  wrong  in  principle  and  per- 
nicious in  results.  They  who  say  that  the  church  is  the 
one  sole  institution  of  religion,  and  that  religion  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  social  and  political  affairs,  utterly  miscon- 
ceive the  work  of  the  church  and  the  nature  of  religion. 
They  who  say  that  the  State  is  a  non-religious  realm,  and 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION  3OI 

with  it  Christianity  has  nothing  to  do,  misunderstand 
the  nature  of  Christianity  and  the  meaning  of  the  State. 
Religion  is  a  universal  principle  and  has  to  do  with  all 
life.  The  church  is  one  of  the  institutions  of  religion, 
but  the  State  needs  religion  as  much  as  the  church. 

5.  The  modern  argument  in  favor  of  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State  has  too  often  been  based  on  wrong 
premises.  For  one  thing,  it  has  been  assumed  that  the 
Church  has  to  do  with  sacred  things  and  the  State  with 
secular  interests,  and  inasmuch  as  these  realms  are  sepa- 
rate and  isolated,  Church  and  State  must  be  separate. 
And  so  it  has  come  about  that  life  has  been  parceled  out 
between  these  different  institutions  and  life  itself  has 
become  a  dualism.  Under  the  dominion  of  this  false 
conception  it  has  come  about  that  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State  has  meant  about  the  same  thing  as  the 
exclusion  of  religion  from  political  affairs.  Thus,  as  illus- 
tration, we  find  a  careful  writer  saying:  "  It  is,  in  fact, 
quite  superfluous  to  show  in  this  age  that  from  their  own 
inherent  nature  divine  and  moral  sanctions  can  have  no 
application  to  political  matters."  Again  :  "  The  two  do- 
mains of  political  and  divine  obligations  are  thus  not  only 
exclusive  (not  necessarily  exclusive  as  relating  to  par- 
ticular acts,  but  only  as  to  the  character  of  the  sanction 
applied)  but,  from  the  individual  standpoint,  often  con- 
tradictory "  (Willoughby,  "  The  Nature  of  the  State,"  pp. 
52,  53).  A  more  ominous  implication,  a  more  unfortunate 
confusion  of  terms,  it  is  hard  to  find  in  any  thoughtful 
writer.  The  writer's  meaning,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  not 
quite  clear.  If  he  means  that  the  will  of  God,  to  the  man 
who  believes  in  God,  has  no  application  to  political  mat- 
ters, he  is  guilty  of  political  atheism.  If  he  means  that 
divine  sanctions,  as  men  conceive  those  sanctions,  have  no 
relation  to  political  matters,  he  is  guilty  of  hopeless  con- 
fusion of  thought.   The  writer  cannot  mean  that  the  great 


302 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


world  of  political  interests  is  non-moral  and  that  political 
relations  have  no  moral  quality.  The  writer,  we  must 
feel,  has  fallen  into  the  error  of  so  many  theorists  in 
our  time  who  attempt  to  make  economic  and  political 
questions  matters  of  pure  science  without  any  relation 
to  moral  content  or  religious  quality.  The  great  sciences 
of  man  and  society,  it  is  needless  to  say,  cannot  thus  be 
divided  off  from  the  great  worlds  of  morality  and  re- 
ligion. The  fact  is,  ethical  principles  cannot  work  in  a 
vacuum  and  the  Christian  spirit  cannot  be  separated  from 
human  life.  The  field  of  manifestation  of  both  ethics 
and  religion  is  human  life  and  society  with  all  their 
varied  interests  and  relations.    The  religion  that  is  oc- 

 casional  is  no  religion  at  all. 

The  fact  is,  the  faith  of  the  Christian  is  a  principle  of 
action,  and  the  religion  of  Christ  is  a  social  gospel. 
Christianity  teaches  that  the  whole  of  life  is  to  be  lived 
in  all  its  interests  and  relations  under  the  direct  dominion 
of  the  Christian  ideal ;  and  that  the  present  sphere  of 
manifestation  of  the  Christian  principle  is  this  present  life 
with  its  families,  its  churches,  and  its  States.  "  It  is  a 
shallow  and  unworthy  view  of  religion  that  would  so 
etherealize  and  spiritualize  it,  as  to  dissever  it  from  all 
interference  with  a  man's  secular  trade,  his  political  ac- 
tivities, or  his  very  amusements  "  (Williams,  in  "  Madi- 
son Ave.  Lectures,"  p.  439).  No  error  could  be  more 
:fatal  to  true  religion  than  the  attempt  to  make  it  a  private 
•matter,  to  isolate  it  from  the  wider  interests  of  life,  to 
consider  it  as  limited  wholly  to  certain  so-called  sacred  and 
religious  provinces  of  life.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  they 
wrong  the  State  and  undermine  its  very  foundations 
and  destroy  the  very  hope  of  progress,  who  would  ex- 
clude religion  from  it,  and  would  build  political  institu- 
tions upon  a  purely  secular  basis.  The  fact  is.  they  who 
hold  this  view  of  things  have  the  whole  verdict  of  history 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION 


and  the  whole  testimony  of  life  against  them.  To  rule 
religion  out  of  politics  is  therefore  as  impossible  as  it  is 
erroneous ;  in  fact,  it  dishonors  religion  by  making  it 
appear  not  as  the  friend,  but  as  the  foe  of  man ;  and  it 
dishonors  the  State  by  making  it  appear  as  a  godless 
realm,  with  which  religion  has  nothing  to  do.  The  fact  is, 
as  Bascom  reminds  us,  when  religion  separates  its  duties 
from  those  we  owe  to  men,  it  easily  becomes  fanciful  and 
fanatical,  and  misses  the  forces  which  are  promoting 
spiritual  progress  in  the  world.  But  when  religion  takes 
as  its  own  this  very  field  of  the  moral  relations  which 
hold  between  men — and  between  men  and  God — it  adds 
the  highest  incentives  to  those  already  present ;  it  has 
before  it  an  urgent  and  definite  work,  and  the  largest  in- 
spiration for  its  accomplishment  ( Bascom,  "  The  Words 
of  Christ,"  pp.  133,  134). 

II.  The  Ideal  of  the  Christian  Religion  and  of  the 
Political  State.  The  writer  is  not  unaware  of  the  charge 
that  may  be  brought  against  him  at  this  point  by  some 
who  call  themselves  practical  men.  When  a  man  begins 
to  talk  of  ideals  in  political  matters,  they  say,  it  is  time 
for  practical  people  to  part  company  with  him  and  leave 
him  to  his  dreams.  At  the  risk,  therefore,  of  being  set 
down  as  a  dreamer,  the  author  yet  ventures  to  consider 
the  relation  of  the  ideal  of  the  Christian  religion  to  the 
political  State. 

"  There  is  no  term  that  is  more  sadly  misunderstood  than 
this  term  ideal,  or  one  more  generally  overworked  than 
the  term  practical.  For  we  soon  find  that  he  who  talks 
so  much  of  the  real  and  the  practical  is  the  true  visionary 
and  the  wholly  impractical  man.  He  has  seen  but  a  part 
of  life,  he  has  no  standard  of  measurement,  and  does  not 
know  real  values.  There  are  others,  calling  themselves 
politicians  and  sometimes  statesmen,  who  affect  an  in- 
difference to  ideals  and  dreams  on  the  plea  that  the  things 


3^4 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


which  really  concern  mankind  are  tariff  schedules  and 
civil  statutes.  Practical  men  have  no  time  for  trifles 
and  for  trifling;  and  statesmen  have  no  strength  to  spend 
in  chasing  rainbows.  Here,  again,  it  is  evident  that  the 
really  practical  man  is  wiser  and  clearer-visioned  than  all 
this.  The  really  practical  statesman  knows  his  age  and  his 
people ;  but  he  looks  out  upon  the  world,  and  he  knows 
both  the  end  to  be  attained  and  the  road  that  must  be 
traveled ;  he  knows  the  best  policy  for  to-day  because 
he  knows  the  true  direction  of  human  progress.  The 
ideal  is  the  truly  real.  The  real  never  finds  firm  founda- 
tions till  it  rests  upon  the  ideal.  "  The  only  effective 
realists  are  the  idealists." 

i.  The  first  thing  that  men  need  is  some  conception  of 
man,  some  ideal  of  human  society,  some  sense  of  direction 
in  human  progress,  some  great  synthesis  that  shall  give 
life  unity  and  meaning.  "  That  which  gives  life  its  key- 
note," says  a  suggestive  writer,  "  is  not  what  men  think 
good,  but  what  they  think  best.  .  .  Not  the  criminal  code, 
but  the  counsel  of  perfection  shows  us  what  a  nation  is 
becoming"  (Wedgewood,  "The  Moral  Ideal,"  p.  373). 
"  Virtuous  conduct,"  Socrates  used  to  say,  "  that  is  ig- 
norant of  its  end  is  purely  accidental."  To  the  man  with 
no  harbor  in  view  one  port  is  as  good  as  another.  The 
history  of  progress  will  show  that  mankind  has  risen  in 
the  scale  of  life  as  it  has  recognized  ideals  and  has  sought 
to  follow  them.  "  Take  man  as  you  find  him,"  Lilly 
suggests,  "  in  London,  in  Bagdad,  in  Pekin,  in  Ava.  Fol- 
low him  through  his  twenty-four  hours  of  work  or 
amusement,  of  eating  and  sleeping.  What  is  it  that  makes 
him  something  more  than  matter  in  movement?  The 
influence  of  some  great  idea,  some  true  thought  coming 
to  him  from  Jesus  Christ,  from  Mohammed,  from  Con- 
fucius, from  Gotama,  that  has  mainly  formed  the  spiritual 
atmosphere  which  he  breathes  and  by  which,  uncon- 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION" 


305 


sciously,  his  moral  being  lives  "  (Lilly,  "  Contemporary 
Review."  1885).  The  fact  is,  man's  conduct  is  moral  and 
rational  in  so  far  as  it  is  shot  through  and  through  with 
intelligence  and  purpose. 

"  Where  there  is  no  vision  the  people  perish."  Some 
conception  of  life  men  must  have  if  they  are  to  live  worthy 
lives.  Some  ideal  they  must  cherish  if  they  are  to  live 
with  forethought  and  hope.  Some  sense  of  direction  there 
must  be  if  they  are  to  march  with  vigor  and  purpose. 
Some  great  synthesis  must  obtain  if  men  are  to  unify  their 
efforts  and  marshal  their  forces  into  one  army.  Reason 
tells  man  that  there  must  be  some  meaning  to  life,  some 
ideal  for  society,  some  goal  for  the  world,  some  synthesis 
large  enough  to  comprehend  all  lower  aims  and  give  them 
meaning.  And  hence  it  follows  that  man  is  but  obeying 
the  deepest  and  strongest  imperative  of  his  nature  when 
he  seeks  to  know  this  meaning  and  to  discover  this  ideal, 
to  discover  this  goal  and  to  formulate  this  synthesis. 
Well  then  may  Frederic  Harrison,  in  a  plaintive  way, 
expostulate  with  men  because  they  are  not  more  eager  in 
seeking  to  know  the  meaning  of  life  and  to  define  the 
ideal  of  society.  "  Strange,"  he  says,  "  that  we  do  not 
all  day  and  night  incessantly  seek  for  an  answer  to  this  of 
all  questions  the  most  vital.  Is  there  anything  by  which 
our  nature  can  gain  its  unity?  our  race  acknowledge  its 
brotherhood?"  ("Nineteenth  Century,"  March,  1881). 
If  the  religion  of  Christ  can  help  man  at  this  point,  it 
will  help  him  at  the  point  of  his  deepest  need. 

This  is  not  all;  for  not  only  do  men  need  an  ideal,  but 
they  must  have  a  right  ideal.  If  they  have  false  ideals 
they  may  lose  themselves  in  the  wilderness.  If  they 
have  right  ideals  they  will  march  with  confidence  and 
will  gain  the  promised  land.  About  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  a  brilliant  Frenchman  put  forth  a 
couple  of  books,  one  dealing  with  education  and  the 
u 


3o6 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


other  with  politics.  There  is  much  in  these  books  that 
is  true,  but  there  is  much  also  that  is  vicious  and  mis- 
leading. Yet  these  books  of  the  speculative  Rousseau 
had  far-reaching  results,  and  his  "  Social  Contract  "  was 
probably  one  of  the  most  potent  factors  in  causing  the 
French  Revolution.  At  any  rate  it  is  a  matter  of  history, 
as  Carlyle  reminds  us,  that  the  books  of  this  sentimentalist 
were,  during  the  Reign  of  Terror,  bound  in  the  tanned 
skins  of  French  noblemen. 

On  the  other  hand,  some  nineteen  centuries  ago,  in 
a  little  out  of-the-way  Roman  province,  a  young  man, 
known  as  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth,  came  forth  from  his 
shop  with  a  great  vision.  He  gathered  around  himself  a 
few  disciples,  simple-minded  men  and  peasants  most 
of  them,  and  they  lived  with  him  long  enough  to  catch 
that  vision  and  to  lift  their  eyes  with  him  toward  the  far 
horizon.  Then,  before  many  months  had  passed,  the 
poor  blind  world,  impatient  with  this  visionary  who 
wanted  a  better  world — a  kingdom  of  God  on  earth  he 
called  it — conspired  against  him  and  crucified  him  be- 
tween two  malefactors.  But  to-day  the  ideal  of  the 
Galilean  is  leading  the  upward  march  of  the  world,  and 
the  spirit  of  his  life  is  the  most  potent  force  in  our 
civilization.  Not  the  least  service  of  Christianity  to  the 
world  is  the  high  ideal  of  man  which  it  brings,  and  the 
true  direction  of  progress  which  it  points  out.  It  is  just 
here  that  religion  meets  man  and  proves  its  worth ;  just 
here  that  Christianity  proves  its  claim  to  be  the  final 
religion. 

This  is  so,  for  the  reason  that  religion  represents  man's 
highest  conception  of  the  world  and  his  loftiest  ideal  of 
God.  "  In  the  truest  sense  God  is  the  summit  of  each  of 
our  consciences  taken  one  by  one,  and  overshadows  every 
transient  life  with  an  eternal  and  sacred  authority " 
(Martineau,  "Study  of  Religion,"  Vol.  II,  p.  49).  Re- 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION  T>°7 

ligion  rests  upon  this  conception  of  God  and  his  relation 
to  man,  and  every  religion  contains  some  conception  of 
God's  being  and  defines  some  aspect  of  his  purpose  in 
the  world.  Hence  it  follows  that  religion  is  the  highest 
and  best  conception  that  man  can  form  of  the  world  and 
its  meaning,  and  contains  his  largest  and  most  compre- 
hensive ideal  for  life  and  for  society.  And  that  particular 
form  of  religion  known  as  Christianity  is  especially  im- 
portant both  in  its  personal  and  its  social  aspect,  for  the 
reason  that  it  is  the  highest  and  purest  form  of  religion 
in  the  world,  and  contains  the  highest  and  purest  concep- 
tion of  man  and  society. 

2.  In  all  right  political  thought  there  must  be  some 
metapolitical  element.  That  is,  there  must  be  some  con- 
ception over  and  above  the  present  order  that  shall  give 
man  a  sense  of  direction  and  shall  furnish  a  standard 
against  which  to  measure  present  policies.  It  will  be 
granted  that  the  State  exists  for  the  promotion  of  human 
welfare  and  good  life.  But  what  is  human  welfare? 
And  when  can  we  say  that  good  life  is  attained?  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  affirms  that  men  are  en- 
dowed by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights ; 
and  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness.  But  why  are  such  things  good?  The 
utilitarian  view  of  the  State  affirms  that  we  must  seek  the 
greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number.  Be  it  so ;  but  what 
then  is  the  greatest  good?  It  is  said  that  those  things  are 
good  for  man  which  tend  to  promote  fulness  of  life,  as 
those  things  are  evil  which  tend  to  detract  from  that  ful- 
ness. Be  it  so ;  but  then  we  must  ask,  what  is  meant  by 
this  fulness  of  life?  Before  we  can  answer  any  of  these 
questions  it  is  evident  that  we  must  have  some  conception 
of  man  in  his  nature  and  his  possibilities.  And  the  same 
questions  may  be  asked  with  reference  to  human  society 
and  to  social  programmes.    What  is  the  true  goal  of 


3o8 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


society?  What  movements  may  be  classed  as  progress, 
and  what  must  be  considered  as  loss?  When  human  in- 
terests conflict,  as  they  do  in  every  society,  which  shall 
have  the  supremacy  ?  We  cannot  know  whether  a  certain 
measure  makes  for  the  welfare  of  society  till  we  know 
what  man  is  and  have  brought  all  of  his  interests  into  con- 
sideration. The  fact  is,  man  has  interests  that  can  neither 
be  measured  by  the  foot  rule  of  expediency,  nor  fully 
defined  in  any  statistical  tables. 

The  relation  of  religion  to  the  State  is  important, 
whatever  may  be  the  type  of  that  religion,  but  it  is  doubly 
important  when  that  religion  is  Christianity.  For  "  its 
far-reaching  importance  lies  not  so  much  in  its  directly 
political  assertions,  as  in  that  siiprapolitical  or  metapo- 
litical  element  which  it  introduced  into  the  world,  by 
which  we  mean  that  which  precedes  the  political  as  its 
presupposition,  that  which  lies  outside  and  beyond  it 
as  its  aim  and  object,  and  by  which  the  political  element 
is  to  be  pervaded  as  by  its  soul,  its  intellectually  vivifying 
principle.  The  metapolitical  element  consists  in  the  duly 
proportioned  view  of  man,  of  human  nature,  and  of  the 
ultimate  object  of  human  life ;  and  the  true  metapolitic  is 
in  our  opinion  that  Christian  view  of  the  world  and  of 
life  which  throws  an  entirely  new  light  upon  the  State,  by 
placing  it  in  relation  with  a  kingdom  which  is  not  of  this 
world,  and  thus  forcing  it  to  recognize  its  own  position 
as  a  mere  medium,  as  destined  to  subserve  this  more 
exalted  kingdom "  (Martensen,  "  Christian  Ethics, 
Social,"  sec.  45).  In  the  Christian  conception  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth  we  have  a  great  social  ideal 
which  includes  the  lives  of  men  and  the  societies  of  earth, 
and  in  this  ideal  we  see  the  relation  between  the  progress 
of  the  State  and  that  great  purpose  which  is  being 
worked  out  in  the  world.  In  the  last  analysis  politics  is 
faith  in  action,  and  progress  is  applied  religion. 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION 


309 


3.  In  this  true  metapolitic  we  find  those  great  principles 
which  shall  guide  the  State  in  its  efforts  to  promote  social 
welfare.  The  State  that  is  true  to  itself  is  seeking  to 
promote  life  and  is  seeking  to  create  conditions  which 
shall  make  for  the  development  of  society.  No  institu- 
tion, no  power  on  earth  so  holds  in  its  grasp  the  weal  or 
woe  of  mankind  as  the  State.  The  social  order,  the 
national  sentiments,  the  governmental  regulations,  the 
social  environment  influence  immeasurably  for  good  or  ill 
every  soul  within  their  reach.  The  State  is  the  nursery 
of  men,  and  unless  noble  men  are  being  produced  every 
great  end  of  the  State  is  thwarted.  Politics  is  the  science 
of  social  welfare,  and  has  at  heart  the  achievement  of  a 
social  order  in  which  the  person  shall  be  developed  and 
the  ideals  of  humanity  shall  be  realized.  In  the  last 
analysis  the  true  wealth  of  States  is  to  be  measured,  not 
in  terms  of  material  resources,  but  in  the  growth  of  moral 
ideals.  And  in  the  last  analysis  it  will  appear  that  all 
material  resources,  such  as  wealth,  property,  and  food, 
have  value  in  so  far  as  they  minister  to  the  spiritual  life 
of  man.  In  themselves  these  things  have  no  value,  but 
for  what  they  will  accomplish  in  man  and  for  society  they 
acquire  an  infinite  value.  Even  economics  go  out  at 
last  into  theology.  There  is  a  gospel  ring  in  the  words  of 
Ruskin :  "  The  wealth  of  a  man  consists  in  the  number  of 
things  he  loves  and  blesses,  and  in  the  number  of  things 
he  is  loved  and  blessed  by."  The  true  use  of  material 
resources  is  found  in  their  power  of  ministering  to  the 
mental  and  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  man.  In  the  final 
count  government  is  essentially  a  moral  and  spiritual 
process ;  and  in  the  ultimate  analysis  it  is  directed  not 
to  material,  but  to  spiritual  ends. 

4.  Again,  in  this  true  Christian  metapolitic,  we  find 
those  great  principles  which  shall  guide  men  in  the  fram- 
ing of  laws.   We  shall  assume  at  this  stage  of  our  study 


3io 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


that  the  State  has  some  great  end  to  serve,  and  that  this 
end  is  the  development  of  man  and  the  promotion  of 
human  welfare.  That  the  State  may  fulfil  its  end,  laws 
must  be  enacted  and  executed,  and  in  the  last  analysis 
these  laws  are  but  the  definition  and  interpretation  of  the 
social  ideal.  What  now  is  the  source  of  authority  in  the 
State?  This  question  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  law. 
What  is  the  standard  of  social  right?  There  must  be 
some  standard  of  right,  otherwise  we  are  turned  adrift 
on  the  wide  sea  of  moral  uncertainty.  There  must  be 
some  reason  why  the  members  of  a  State  should  submit 
to  the  law  that  is  over  them,  if  they  are  to  be  rational 
creatures,  and  the  State  is  other  than  an  absolute  autoc- 
racy. There  must  be  for  man  some  supreme  rule  of 
right,  some  supreme  standard  of  conduct,  both  for  men 
and  for  States.  Our  preferences  are  no  standard,  and  our 
interests  create  no  right.  No  number  of  personal  prefer- 
ences can  ever  add  themselves  up  into  an  adequate  and 
satisfactory  public  standard,  as  no  amount  of  compromise 
and  expediency  can  ever  formulate  itself  into  a  final  and 
authoritative  will.  There  can  be  nothing  in  the  mass  that 
was  not  in  the  elements.  By  no  transmutations  and  ma- 
nipulations of  interests  and  preferences  can  we  bring  out 
the  product  of  a  human  right  and  a  political  authority. 
Always  and  everywhere  the  men  who  have  opposed 
tyranny  have  appealed  to  an  authority  and  standard 
beyond  the  will  of  man  and  higher  than  his  preference. 
If  we  deny  this  right  of  appeal  by  denying  the  existence 
of  an  Appellate  Court,  we  have  made  way  for  usurpation 
and  tyranny.  If  we  admit  this  right  of  appeal,  we  thereby 
admit  that  there  is  a  right  and  will  higher  than  the  will  of 
one  man  or  of  any  number  of  men.  Not  one  man,  not 
one  million  of  men  can  make  a  right  or  constitute  a  final 
authority.  The  decision  and  decree  of  the  million,  if 
freely  expressed  and  fairly  registered,  may  establish  a 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION  31 1 

strong  presumption  in  favor  of  right,  and  may  be  accepted 
as  a  working  standard  of  right.  And  this  means  that 
there  must  be  something  over  and  above  us  all  which  we 
all  accept  and  to  which  we  all  may  appeal.  Thus  we  are 
driven  by  the  most  inexorable  logic  to  declare  our 
allegiance  to  the  Christian  metapolitic. 

5.  Finally,  in  this  Christian  conception  of  the  State,  we 
find  those  principles  that  can  adjust  the  competing  inter- 
ests of  men  and  bring  them  into  social  peace.  The  one 
who  may  endeavor  to  harmonize  these  clashing  interests 
and  decide  some  of  the  questions  at  issue  will  find  himself 
handicapped  by  the  fact  that  the  parties  to  the  con- 
troversy have  each  a  different  standard  of  ethics,  and 
neither  litigant  will  recognize  the  validity  of  the  other's 
code.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  these  conflicts  of  men, 
these  clashings  of  interests  can  never  be  adjusted  by  the 
power  of  one  interest  to  assert  itself  against  all  com- 
petitors; neither  can  they  be  adjudicated  by  any  patched-up 
truce  or  temporary  compromise.  It  is  evident  that  we 
never  can  have  social  peace  till  some  way  can  be  found  of 
harmonizing  all  of  these  interests  and  of  giving  each  its 
due. 

The  one  need  of  society  is  a  great  central  tribunal  of 
moral  judgment  to  which  all  may  appeal,  and  where  each 
may  receive  due  consideration.  This  means  that  there 
must  be  some  conception  of  man,  some  ideal  of  society, 
some  standard  of  right,  some  supreme  synthesis  that 
shall  include  all  lower  ideals  and  be  the  final  authority. 
No  one  has  more  clearly  stated  the  difficulties  that  arise 
because  of  these  conflicting  interests  than  Mazzini,  and  no 
man  has  more  clearly  shown  the  service  which  Christi- 
anity can  render  to  society  by  providing  men  with  this 
human  ideal  and  social  synthesis.  "  Suppose  the  interests 
of  one  individual  temporarily  opposed  to  those  of  an- 
other, how  will  you  reconcile  them,  except  by  appealing 


312 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


to  something  superior  to  all  rights?  .  .  Suppose  an  indi- 
vidual revolting  against  the  bonds  of  society;  he  feels 
himself  strong ;  his  inclinations,  his  faculties,  call  him  to  a 
path  other  than  the  common;  he  has  a  right  to  develop 
them,  and  he  wages  war  against  the  community.  Con- 
sider well  what  argument  can  you  oppose  to  him  con- 
sistently with  the  doctrine  of  rights?"  ("Democracy  in 
Europe,"  II).  Considerations  of  utility,  he  justly  shows, 
are  not  sufficient,  for  appeals  to  enlightened  self-interest 
only  add  to  the  confusion.  Repudiating  his  opinions  or 
suppressing  them  by  force  is  foolish  and  tyrannical. 
It  may  be  said  that  each  man  should  desire  not 
alone  his  own  well-being,  but  the  well-being  of  society ; 
each  man  should  learn  to  subordinate  his  own  wishes 
to  the  rational  will  of  all.  "Should?  And  why?  Do 
you  not  see  that  you  are  appealing  to  another  principle 
— to  a  religious  principle  ?  Do  you  not  see  that  you  have 
invoked  something  superior  to  all  the  individualities  that 
constitute  your  society;  something  superior  to  all  laws 
that  you  can  promulgate  in  the  name  of  utility?"  (ibid.). 
The  one  principle  which  is  superior  to  all  other  principles 
is  the  religious  principle.  Thus  "  to  attain  our  object 
we  must  go  back  to  principles ;  must  reattach  the  nations 
which  now  go  about  groping  their  way  in  empty  space 
to  the  laws  of  progress  ;  to  humanity  ;  to  God."  And  this 
is  the  very  thing  that  Christianity  aims  to  do;  this  is  the 
very  service  that  it  renders  society.  In  a  word,  it  pro- 
vides us  with  an  ideal  and  synthesis  large  and  compre- 
hensive enough  to  include  all  the  lesser  ideals  and 
interests  of  man ;  it  contains  those  great  principles  of 
social  right  and  justice  which  can  harmonize  the  conflict- 
ing interests  of  society  and  can  adjust  the  relations  of  the 
one  and  the  many. 

III.  Religion  and  the  Social  Forces.  It  is  evident  that 
some  power  or  influence  is  needed  which  shall  unite  men 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION 


313 


in  social  fellowship,  which  shall  induce  them  to  take 
thought  for  the  common  life  and  to  subordinate  their 
preferences  to  the  common  welfare.  In  view  of  the  large 
place  that  the  average  man  is  called  to  occupy  in  the  demo- 
cratic State,  it  is  evident  that  the  need  of  this  power 
and  influence  is  greatly  accentuated.  Democracy,  we  have 
agreed,  is  the  confession  of  human  brotherhood ;  it  is  the 
recognition  of  common  aims  and  the  confession  of  mutual 
obligations;  and  democracy  is  hence  simply  impossible 
without  faith  and  fraternity  and  self-sacrifice. 

1.  Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  define  and 
classify  these  social  forces  and  influences.  A  brief  con- 
sideration of  the  difference  between  the  social  machinery 
involved  and  the  social  forces  operative  through  that 
machinery  may  enable  us  to  appreciate  the  problem  be- 
fore us. 

In  all  times  men  have  placed  great  reliance  upon  such 
purely  external  and  material  means  as  the  sword  and 
the  machinery  of  government.  This  study  is  concerned 
with  the  State  in  its  relation  to  man's  life  and  to 
social  progress.  To  set  a  low  estimate  upon  government 
— the  organized  agency  of  the  State — is  to  deny  our  very 
thesis  and  convict  ourselves  of  solemn  trifling.  The  State, 
we  believe,  is  one  of  the  most  important  agencies  of 
man's  life,  and  has  a  most  marked  influence  upon  social 
welfare.  It  is  the  only  institution  that  represents  the 
whole  people,  and  is  the  only  agency  through  which  they 
can  co-operate  in  their  search  after  progress.  But  we  need 
to  keep  in  mind  a  distinction  which  is  vital,  a  distinction 
which,  if  heeded  now,  will  save  us  from  much  confusion 
in  the  end.  The  State  is  the  people  organized  in  a  political 
capacity  in  behalf  of  the  common  good ;  and  this  means 
the  co-operation  of  all  in  behalf  of  the  common  welfare. 
The  government  is  the  machinery  of  the  State;  and 
government  is  thus  a  means  and  not  a  source  of  power. 


314 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Government,  as  such,  is  wholly  ineffective  and  impotent ; 
it  invents  nothing,  and  never  has  invented  anything ;  like 
all  other  machinery,  it  produces  results  that  bear  a  direct 
relation  to  the  power  communicated.  Organization  is 
necessary  that  the  best  results  may  be  achieved,  and  the 
machinery  of  the  State  is  of  untold  value.  But  the  real 
function  of  government  is  transmissive,  and  not  origi- 
native. When  used  as  a  transmitter  and  distributor  of 
power,  it  is  capable  of  immeasurable  results.  The  ma- 
chinery of  government  of  itself  and  by  itself  is  weak  and 
impotent,  and  its  real  power  depends  upon  those  social 
forces  which  use  it  as  an  agency  and  work  through  it  as 
a  means.  The  real  forces  of  society  we  see  lie  behind  the 
machinery  of  government  and  work  through  it. 

Efforts  have  been  made  to  analyze  and  define  the  nature 
of  these  forces  that  operate  in  society  and  work  through 
the  State.  What  are  the  motives  that  determine  men's 
conduct?  What  are  the  forces  that  mold  society?  It 
has  been  assumed  that  knowledge  of  the  right,  intellectual 
ideas,  enlightened  self-interest,  the  greatest  good  of  the 
greatest  number,  are  the  great  desiderata;  and  given 
these,  all  other  things  will  follow.  The  best  sociological 
thought  is  thrown  fairly  against  these  assumptions.  In 
his  "  Psychic  Factors  of  Civilization,"  Professor  Ward  has 
shown  that  the  intellect  is  not  a  social  force  at  all,  but 
simply  a  directing  agency,  and  that  the  real  forces  are 
psychic,  being  such  things  as  desires  and  emotions  of 
various  kinds  and  degrees  ("  Psychic  Factors,"  pp.  222, 
55).  With  these  conclusions  agree  such  investigators  as 
Professor  Ross,  who  declares  that  sociology  is  chiefly 
a  psychical  science.  "  Its  causes  are  to  be  sought  in 
mental  processes,  its  forces  are  psychic  forces,  and  no 
non-psychic  factors  should  be  recognized  until  it  is  shown 
just  how  they  are  able  to  affect  motive  and  choice " 
("Foundations  of  Sociology,"  p.  161);  and  Professor 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION  315 

Small,  who  says  that  "  the  sociologists  have  done  their 
part  to  show  that  the  most  significant  factors  of  life  are 
the  work  of  mind,  and  not  the  grinding  of  machinery." 
"  At  the  same  time  we  must  protest  against  the  tendency 
to  accept  interpretations  in  terms  of  mental  action,  which 
is  merely  a  process  analogous  with  a  mechanical  process. 
The  real  explanation  must  be  found  in  the  spiritual  initi- 
ative, which  is  superior  to  mechanical  causation " 
("  Gen.  Sociology,"  p.  639). 

In  like  manner  all  attempts  to  find  the  moving 
forces  of  society  in  such  considerations  as  self-interest  and 
utility  signally  fail  at  the  crucial  point.  We  may  grant 
that  man  is  a  being  susceptible  to  pleasure  and  pain ; 
we  may  admit  that  a  constant  effort  on  his  part  is  to  seek 
the  one  and  to  avoid  the  other ;  we  may  say  that  true  wis- 
dom is  shown  in  the  pursuit  of  useful  and  pleasurable 
things  both  for  self  and  for  others,  and  we  may  also 
affirm  that  nothing  is  really  good  for  society  that  is  bad 
for  the  individual.  But  when  we  watch  the  principle  of 
utility  as  a  power  of  social  action  we  find  that  it  fatally 
breaks  down  and  refuses  to  work.  As  Mazzini  has  said  in 
such  eloquent  words,  "  there  are  no  arguments  that  can 
convince  a  man  that  his  utility  consists  in  sacrificing  a  part 
of  his  enjoyments  for  the  common  enjoyment.  In  the  name 
of  utility  who  will  say  to  a  people,  '  In  the  name  of  thy 
own  advantage,  sacrifice  thyself!  In  the  name  of  thy 
well-being,  die!  "'  ("  Democracy  in  Europe,"  III).  There 
was  at  the  bottom  of  the  cup  of  hemlock  which  Socrates 
drank,  something  more  than  a  calculation  of  pleasure  or 
disappointed  expectation. 

We  speak  sometimes  of  the  power  of  ideas,  and  place 
great  reliance  upon  their  dissemination  among  the  people. 
There  is  a  grave  danger  here,  and  error  at  this  point  leads 
to  bitter  disappointment  in  the  end.  Professor  Ward  has 
shown  with  keen  insight  that  ideas  alone  are  not  suffi- 


316 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


cient,  and  that  the  soul  is  the  great  transforming  agent, 
the  power  behind  the  throne  of  reason  in  the  evolution  of 
man  ("  Psychic  Factors,"  p.  49).  Long  ago  other  teachers 
recognized  this ;  thus  Confucius  writes :  "  I  have  made 
vain  efforts  to  put  men  who  wish  to  walk  in  it,  on  the 
way  to  wisdom;  not  succeeding,  I  have  no  recourse  but 
tears."  And  Marcus  Aurelius  cries,  "  Protest  till  you 
burst,  men  will  go  on  all  the  same."  Right  ideas,  cor- 
rect principles  are  important,  yea,  they  are  necessary, 
but  when  standing  alone  they  are  wholly  impotent  and 
ineffective.  But  let  them  be  filled  with  conviction  and 
emotion,  let  them  be  thrilling  and  throbbing  with  moral 
and  spiritual  fervor,  and  they  are  the  mightiest  forces 
beneath  the  sun  and  become  the  potency  of  world-wide 
results. 

The  more  closely  we  study  the  facts  of  life,  and  the 
less  we  are  misled  by  symbols,  the  more  clearly  do  we 
see  that  the  real  forces  that  move  men  and  operate  in 
society  are  psychic  and  spiritual  forces.  Man,  in  the  last 
analysis,  is  a  psychic  and  spiritual  being,  and  not  a  me- 
chanical and  physical  being.  External  pressure  and  ma- 
terial conditions  may  have  much  to  do  with  his  life,  but 
they  influence  him  just  so  far  as  they  affect  his  thought 
and  persuade  his  will.  The  ideas  of  others,  the  com- 
mands of  his  masters,  may  have  much  to  do  with  the 
color  of  his  thought  and  the  bent  of  his  life,  but  in  and 
of  themselves  they  have  no  power  over  him.  The  com- 
mon assumption  that  there  are  some  mystic  and  objective 
powers  in  the  world  that  in  some  strange  and  occult  way 
exert  a  kind  of  external  and  irresistible  pressure  upon 
men,  controlling  their  wills  and  shaping  their  lives  with- 
out their  knowledge  or  consent,  is  one  that  cannot  stand 
for  a  moment  in  the  light  of  modern  psychology.  The 
fact  is,  the  real  powers  that  work  in  man  and  in  society, 
the  powers  that  are  potent  and  effective,  are  not  abstract 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION  317 

and  objective  powers,  but  psychic  and  spiritual.  They 
are  such  powers  as  work  in  men  and  through  men ;  that 
is,  such  powers  as  can  inform  the  mind  and  quicken  the 
conscience,  that  can  enchain  the  affections  and  arouse  the 
will ;  they  are  such  forces  as  reside  in  the  brave  heart,  the 
steady  purpose,  and  the  unflinching  hand ;  in  a  word,  they 
are  psychic,  moral,  spiritual,  religious  forces.  In  the  last 
analysis  it  thus  appears  that  the  real  powers  of  life 
and  society  are  those  very  powers  that  find  their  highest 
and  fullest  expression  in  what  we  call  religion. 

2.  The  moment  we  consider  the  essential  nature  of 
religion,  that  moment  we  see  its  great  potency  as  a 
social  force.  By  religion,  as  we  have  seen,  we  mean  the 
sense  of  man's  relation  to  the  invisible  and  divine  Ruler 
of  the  world.  Religion  may  or  may  not  be  concerned 
primarily  with  the  belief  in  another  life ;  thus  we  find  that 
the  religion  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  was  almost  wholly 
destitute  of  this  belief;  at  least  it  was  not  by  any  means 
a  primary  and  commanding  feature  of  their  religion. 
But  religion  always  rests  upon  a  belief  in  God,  and  is 
inspired  with  a  sense  of  obligation  to  do  his  will;  and 
religion  always  represents  man's  highest  conception  of  the 
world  and  his  highest  conviction  of  duty.  In  the  purest 
form  of  religion,  as  we  believe — that  represented  by  the 
religion  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth — the  central  place  is  given 
to  the  great  conception  of  God  as  Father  and  man  as  child. 
And  implied  and  involved  in  it  all,  woven  into  the  very 
warp  and  woof  of  the  Christian  system,  we  find  the  con- 
ception of  a  divine  society  on  earth,  fashioned  according 
to  the  will  of  God  and  filled  with  the  spirit  of  Christ.  In 
its  essence,  as  Fairbairn  shows,  it  is  a  mighty  plan, 
splendid  in  its  efficiency  for  the  construction  from  the  base 
upward,  of  a  humanity  or  a  society,  that  shall  in  all  its 
parts,  through  all  its  members,  and  in  all  their  relations, 
express  and  articulate  the  righteous  will  of  God  (Fair- 


3i8 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


bairn,  *' Religion  in  His.  and  Mod.  Life,"  p.  141).  Thus 
the  various  lines  of  investigation  converge  at  the  one 
point,  and  we  see  that  religion  is  the  most  potent  force 
that  can  work  in  man  and  in  society.  The  forces  that 
are  needed  in  society  are  psychic  and  spiritual  forces,  and 
in  religion  we  find  the  very  forces  that  are  required  to 
make  men  social  beings  and  to  inspire  them  to  labor  for 
the  common  welfare. 

3.  The  study  of  history  shows  that  religion  is  the  chief 
factor  in  human  life  and  social  progress.  In  saying  this 
we  are  not  blind  to  the  evils  and  miseries  that  have  been 
caused  by  religion,  nor  do  we  forget  that  it  has  been  one 
of  the  chief  instruments  in  man's  oppression  and  en- 
slavement. We  do  not  refuse  to  read  those  pages  which 
tell  how  religion  has  been  used  to  suppress  men's  aspi- 
rations and  to  make  them  satisfied  with  their  masters. 
We  do  not  forget  either  how  religion  has  been  associated 
with  the  most  gross  and  cruel  superstitions,  and  has  filled 
the  mind  of  man  with  named  and  nameless  terrors.  The 
fact  is,  there  are  no  wrongs  and  cruelties  that  cannot 
be  traced  back  either  directly  or  indirectly  to  religion. 

But  this  story  of  the  perversion  of  religion,  black  as 
that  story  is,  bears  testimony  to  the  potency  of  religion 
in  the  life  of  man.  The  perversion  of  the  greatest  good 
is  the  worst  evil,  and  the  very  abuses  of  religion  testify 
to  its  immeasurable  potency.  In  the  highest  form  of 
religion,  that  represented  by  Christianity,  we  find  few  of 
these  negative  and  objectionable  features,  while  it  is 
filled  with  those  that  are  positive  and  inspiring.  Of 
course,  the  social  and  political  value  of  any  religion  will 
depend  in  the  last  analysis  upon  the  character  of  the 
religion  itself.  In  this  respect  Christianity  has  an  im- 
measurable advantage  over  all  the  other  religions  of  the 
world,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  unique  in  several  aspects. 
For  one  thing,  it  gives  us  the  highest  and  worthiest  con- 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION  319 

ception  of  man ;  for  "  There  is  no  religion  which  regards 
with  such  respect  the  individuality  of  man,  and  seeks  so 
sympathetically  to  guide,  foster,  and  develop  it,  and 
eventually  assigns  to  it  a  destiny  so  glorious  "  (Dennis, 
"  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress,"  Vol.  I,  p. 
419).  Not  only  so,  but  Christianity  gives  in  the  clearest 
and  most  positive  terms  the  conception  of  human  brother- 
hood. Beneath  the  shadow  of  the  name  of  Father  there 
is  no  place  for  caste  and  class,  with  all  the  pernicious  and 
divisive  influences  that  flow  from  these  things.  In  addi- 
tion to  all  this,  it  embodies  the  highest  and  purest  con- 
ceptions of  human  life  and  duty,  and  sets  before  men 
great  ethical  principles  which  are  both  essentially  rational 
and  sufficiently  authoritative.  And  as  the  consummation 
and  culmination  of  all,  it  is  a  fountain  of  great  and 
conquering  motives,  a  reservoir  of  fertilizing  and  fructi- 
fying streams  of  impulse  and  aspiration.  It  is  the  foun- 
tain of  those  impulses  and  imperatives  which  lead  men  to 
unselfish  service  and  to  social  self-sacrifice,  and  in  this 
respect  it  is  worthy  of  all  honor. 

An  appeal  to  history,  with  reference  to  the  influence 
of  religion,  will  yield  some  suggestive  results.  Among 
all  the  great  nations  of  the  past  the  religious  factor  is 
the  most  prominent  in  the  people's  life.  That  of  the 
peoples  of  old,  Greece,  Rome,  Egypt,  Israel,  cannot  be 
understood  either  in  its  beginnings  or  in  its  development 
with  religion  ignored.  Look  where  you  will  in  the  wide 
field  of  history,  says  Prof.  J.  R.  Seeley,  you  find  religion, 
whenever  it  works  freely  and  mightily,  either  giving  birth 
to  and  sustaining  States,  or  else  raising  them  up  to  a 
second  life  after  their  destruction.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  it  has  been  the  chief  State-builder,  and  national 
character  is  the  result  of  its  influences  ("Natural  Re- 
ligion," pp.  188-201). 

4.  This  is  not  all.    Society  at  bottom  rests  upon  self- 


320 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


sacrifice,  and  the  degree  of  self-sacrifice  is  the  degree  of 
social  stability.  Progress  in  the  last  analysis  is  self- 
sacrifice,  and  the  degree  of  self-sacrifice  is  the  degree  of 
progress.  That  society  may  endure  and  progress  it  is 
necessary  that  men  begin  to  subordinate  self  to  the 
common  interest,  and  to  learn  to  take  thought  for  the 
common  good.  It  is  evident  that  the  principles  of  self- 
interest  cannot  help  men  here  and  can  never  move  them 
to  this  needful  sacrifice.  This  is  becoming  very  plain,  and 
is  the  ruling  note  of  many  modern  volumes.  Thus  Benja- 
min Kidd,  in  his  "  Social  Evolution,"  a  book  of  clear 
insight  in  spite  of  its  gross  misreading  of  the  basis  of 
religion,  shows  very  conclusively  that  there  is  no  power 
in  the  mere  conflict  of  interests  to  yield  the  product  of 
social  progress.  It  is  in  religion  alone  that  we  can  find 
any  clear  warrant  for  social  progress,  as  it  is  in  religion 
alone  that  we  find  the  dominating  motives  to  social 
service.  Society  is  founded  upon  friendliness  and  co- 
operation and  self-sacrifice,  and  when  these  are  lost 
society  is  at  an  end. 

The  other  forces  named  may  have  some  influence  upon 
social  life,  but  at  best  they  are  weak  and  uncertain  when 
compared  with  this  supreme  and  masterful  force.  It  is 
in  religion  alone  that  we  can  find  those  motives  and  in- 
centives which  can  lift  men  out  of  themselves  and  can 
transform  them  into  self-respecting  and  self-sacrificing 
members  of  society.  Considerations  of  utility  and  en- 
lightened self-interest  may  have  some  influence  upon 
men,  but  they  cannot  furnish  those  inspirations  that  re- 
new men  and  makes  States.  Mere  knowledge  does  not 
convert  the  will  from  bad  to  good.  Lombroso,  in  his 
"  L'Uomo  Delinquente,"  testifies  that  the  number  of  male- 
factors is  greatest,  relatively,  in  the  liberal  professions 
(Lilly,  "First  Principles,"  p.  297).  Considerations  of 
self-interest  cannot  lift  men  out  of  themselves  and  con- 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION 


321 


strain  them  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  the  common  good. 
Society  will  perish  when  friendliness  and  love  and  self- 
sacrifice,  the  very  elements  of  religion,  die  out  of  human 
associations. 

5.  And  for  another  thing  this  religious  spirit  will 
create  and  guide  the  social  conscience  of  the  people,  and 
will  rouse  them  to  strive  for  social  and  moral  improve- 
ment. From  the  beginning  religion  has  been  present, 
and  as  the  centuries  have  gone  it  has  produced  ever  new 
forms  of  social  life.  The  religion  of  Christ  has  been  at 
work  during  the  Christian  era,  and  it  has  caused  many 
significant  changes.  It  has  given  men  a  new  ideal  of  life, 
the  highest  and  noblest ;  it  has  taken  form  in  the  Christian 
church,  an  achievement  of  no  small  meaning,  and  it  has 
created  a  conscience  that  has  moved  men  to  take  thought 
for  others  and  to  bear  their  brothers'  burdens.  It  has 
given  birth  to  many  missionary  and  philanthropic  enter- 
prises, and  has  quickened  men  to  proclaim  good  news  to 
all.  It  has  brought  man  to  social  and  political  self- 
consciousness,  and  has  created  in  him  a  sense  of  hu- 
manity. That  there  may  be  progress,  men  must  realize 
the  evils  that  exist,  and  must  be  moved  to  unite  their 
forces  against  these  evils.  "  The  history  of  mankind  is 
the  growth  of  one  new  conscience  after  another  "  (Henry 
D.  Lloyd,  "  Man  the  Social  Creator,"  p.  208). 

There  is  nothing  like  Christianity  to  make*  and  arouse 
conscience,  to  disclose  and  unmask  evil,  to  challenge  the 
accepted  custom,  and  to  brand  with  scorn  habitual  wrongs. 
It  is  a  kind  of  index  finger  which,  in  all  human  history,  has 
pointed  the  way  toward  a  better  and  more  perfect  social 
order.  It  brings  men  under  the  sway  of  the  loftiest  incen- 
tives, and  it  places  them  under  the  influence  of  great  con- 
victions. The  Christian  spirit  has  not  wrought  in  vain 
during  the  centuries  past.  One  evil  after  another  has 
been  seen  and  felt,  and  men  have  taken  up  arms  against 
v 


322 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


it.  Now  it  has  convicted  men  of  the  sin  of  infanticide 
and  laws  have  been  framed  against  it;  now  it  has  given 
testimony  against  gladiatorial  shows,  and  in  time  edicts 
have  forbidden  these ;  now  it  has  made  men  see  the  evil 
of  slavery,  and  the  old  evil  has  disappeared.  Now  it  has 
felt  the  iniquity  of  war,  and  nations  have  begun  to  take 
thought  for  the  things  of  peace.  One  new  blush  after 
another  has  come  to  the  cheeks  of  mankind,  and  they 
have  begun  to  feel  a  sense  of  shame  in  presence  of  some 
abuse.  The  new  conviction  has  found  expression  in  new 
laws,  and  these  have  conserved  the  gains  that  have  been 
made. 

All  this  enables  us  to  appraise  at  something  near  its 
true  value  that  form  of  religion  which  we  have  agreed  to 
call  Christian.  For  one  thing,  it  gives  us  a  conception  of 
God  the  highest  and  the  purest  that  man  has  ever  known ; 
it  gives  us  the  conception  of  God  who,  in  his  very 
essence,  is  righteousness  and  love,  a  God  who  is  at  once 
Father  and  King.  It  gives  us  also  a  conception  of  God's 
purpose  in  the  world  that  is  the  most  splendid  that  has 
ever  enriched  human  thought ;  it  gives  us  the  conception 
of  a  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  a  pure,  righteous,  and  lov- 
ing society  of  intelligent  and  moral  beings,  a  conception 
that  is  at  once  a  great  constitutive  idea  and  architectonic 
principle  of  human  society.  It  gives  a  conception 
of  man  that  is  at  once  the  noblest  and  richest  the 
world  has  ever  known ;  it  shows  us  that  man  is  made  to 
be  the  child  of  God,  and  hence  his  life  has  an  infinite 
meaning  and  value ;  and  it  gives  us  the  conception  of  hu- 
manity as  a  family  of  brothers  in  which  each  man  is 
entitled  to  all  respect,  and  is  worthy  of  all  honor.  Thus 
in  the  religion  of  Christ  we  have  everything  that  the  State 
can  need,  both  to  ensure  its  perpetuity  and  to  promote  its 
progress.  We  have  in  it  the  supreme  ideal  which  shines 
before  men  to  lure  them  upward  and  onward.    We  have 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION  323 

the  spirit  which  is  to  determine  the  lives  and  activities  of 
men.  We  have  the  gospel  message  that  life  is  a  service 
and  each  man  is  to  find  his  own  life  as  he  loses  it  in  the 
life  of  all.  And  we  have  a  uniting  and  unifying  spirit 
that  draws  men  together  and  constrains  them  to  live  as 
brothers  in  a  family. 

All  this  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  special  need  of 
religion  in  a  democratic  State.  For  one  thing,  democracy 
is,  as  we  have  seen,  a  confession  of  brotherhood  in  social 
and  political  relations.  But  human  brotherhood  has  no 
meaning  or  vitality  apart  from  the  common  divine 
Fatherhood.  It  is  in  the  Christian  truth  of  the  Father- 
hood of  God  that  we  find  at  once  the  source  and  the 
warrant  of  the  democratic  assumption  of  the  brotherhood 
of  man.  Suppose  that  men  should  lose  out  of  their  lives 
the  belief  in  this  divine  Fatherhood;  suppose  that  in  the 
lapse  of  time  this  great  truth  should  dissolve  into  thin 
air?  In  that  case  the  belief  in  human  brotherhood  will  die 
out  of  men's  hearts  and  will  lose  all  power  in  society ; 
the  old  terms  may  still  be  used,  but  they  will  be  utterly 
impotent  for  the  reason  that  they  are  wholly  empty. 
With  the  passing  of  the  conviction  of  human  brotherhood 
based  upon  divine  Fatherhood,  the  great  truths  that  are 
at  once  the  constitutive  basis  and  the  inspiring  motive 
of  democracy  will  also  pass  away.  With  the  passing  of 
the  conception  of  fraternity,  liberty  has  no  vitality  and 
equality  has  no  basis,  and  this  means  the  passing  away  of 
democracy  itself.  The  Christian  spirit  has  created  modern 
democracy,  and  modern  democracy  will  run  its  course 
and  end  in  dismal  night  when  the  Christian  spirit  no 
longer  animates  and  inspires  it. 

And  for  another  thing,  all  this  enables  us  to  see  the 
relation  of  religion  to  the  progress  of  the  democratic 
State.  In  every  form  of  the  State  a  certain  amount  of 
friendliness  and  co-operation,  justice  and  self-sacrifice — 


324 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


the  inner  principles  of  religion — are  necessary  in  order 
that  men  may  live  together  and  may  labor  for  the  com- 
mon good;  but  in  a  democratic  State  these  factors  are 
simply  indispensable.  For  democracy  is  a  confession  of 
mutual  aims  and  obligations,  with  a  conscious  and  vol- 
untary co-operation  in  behalf  of  the  common  welfare. 
The  great  difference  between  the  democratic  State  and 
all  other  forms  is  not  in  the  amount  of  social  subordi- 
nation and  self-sacrifice,  for  a  democracy  may  impose 
more  limitations  upon  men  than  a  monarchy.  In  every 
form  of  the  State  men  must  submit  to  laws  and  must  make 
sacrifices  for  the  sake  of  the  common  life.  But  in  a 
monarchy  the  laws  are  imposed  upon  men  from  without, 
and  the  sacrifices  made  are  more  or  less  compulsory.  In 
a  democracy,  however,  this  social  service  and  self-sacri- 
fice are  almost  wholly  voluntary  and  conscious  on  the 
part  of  all.  There  is  no  force  or  factor  that  has  one-half 
the  social  efficiency  of  religion,  and  there  is  no  factor 
or  force  that  can  take  its  place.  Appeals  to  self-interest 
are  well  enough  in  their  way;  compromise  may  adjust 
many  difficulties  for  the  time,  and  compulsion  may  even 
preserve  a  certain  semblance  of  peace  ;  but  the  highest  and 
broadest  interests  of  society  can  never  be  promoted  with- 
out a  large  amount  of  mutual  aid,  social  co-operation,  and 
self-sacrifice.  It  is  just  here  that  we  discover  the  real 
relation  of  the  Christian  religion  to  the  democratic  State. 
For  Christianity  in  its  inner  essence  and  fundamental 
principles  is  a  religion  of  brotherhood  and  equality,  of 
love  and  self-sacrifice;  the  law  of  Christ  is  the  law  of 
brotherly  kindness  and  social  helpfulness,  of  fair  dealing 
and  friendliness ;  in  a  word,  in  its  very  essence  and  quality 
it  is  a  love  of  righteousness  and  a  struggle  for  the  life 
of  others.  In  a  democracy  the  people  rule ;  but  unless 
God  lives  in  the  people  and  rules  through  them,  the 
State  will  crumble  into  dust  and  chaos  will  come  again. 


THE  STATE  AND  ITS  RELIGION  325 

No  one  has  seen  all  this  more  clearly  than  James 
Bryce,  in  his  great  study  of  "  The  American  Common- 
wealth." In  democratic  America  the  whole  system  of 
government  seems  to  rest,  not  on  armed  force,  but  on 
the  will  of  the  numerical  majority.  "  So,  sometimes, 
standing  in  the  midst  of  a  great  American  city,  and 
watching  the  throngs  of  eager  figures  streaming  hither 
and  thither,  marking  the  sharp  contrasts  of  poverty  and 
wealth,  an  increasing  mass  of  wretchedness  and  an  in- 
creasing display  of  luxury,  .  .  one  is  startled  by  the 
thought  of  what  might  befall  this  huge,  yet  delicate 
fabric  of  laws  and  commerce  and  social  institutions  were 
the  foundations  it  has  rested  on  to  crumble  away.  Sup- 
pose all  these  men  ceased  to  believe  that  there  was  any 
power  above  them,  any  future  before  them,  anything  in 
heaven  or  earth  but  what  their  senses  told  them  of; 
suppose  that  their  consciousness  of  individual  force  and 
responsibility,  already  dwarfed  by  the  overwhelming 
power  of  the  multitude,  and  the  fatalistic  submission  it 
engenders,  were  further  weakened  by  the  feeling  that 
their  swiftly  fleeting  life  was  rounded  by  a  perpetual 
sleep  ? 

Soles  occidere  et  redire  possunt 
Nobis,  quum  semel  occidit  brevis  lux 
Nox  est  perpetua  una  dormienda. 

"  Would  the  moral  code  stand  unshaken,  and  with  it 
the  reverence  for  law,  the  sense  of  duty  toward  the  com- 
munity, and  even  toward  the  generations  yet  to  come? 
Would  men  say  '  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we 
die  ? '  .  .  History,  if  she  cannot  give  a  complete  answer 
to  this  question,  tells  us  that  hitherto  civilized  society 
has  rested  on  religion,  and  that  a  free  government  has 
prospered  best  among  religious  peoples"  ("The  Ameri- 
can Commonwealth,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  582,  583). 


326 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


In  the  last  analysis  the  State  is  the  organized  faith  of  a 
people,  and  where  there  is  no  faith — faith  in  God  and 
faith  in  man — society  is  impossible,  and  the  State  crumbles 
into  dust.  And  in  the  last  analysis  the  real  faith  of  a 
people  finds  expression  in  their  politics,  and  thus  the 
political  life  of  a  people  is  the  final  revelation  of  their 
religion,  and  their  religion  is  the  chief  factor  in  their 
political  programme.  The  religion  of  a  people  expresses 
that  which  they  regard  as  the  best  and  truest,  and  the 
State  is  the  sphere  in  which  the  religion  of  a  people  finds 
its  full  and  final  expression.  The  real  religion  of  a  people 
shows  itself  in  their  politics  more  faithfully  than  in  their 
theologies,  and  their  politics  is  the  best  illustration  of 
the  inner  quality  of  their  religion. 

In  fine,  as  the  conclusion  of  this  study,  we  find  that 
religion  is  the  most  potent  and  pervasive  power  in  human 
life  and  human  society.  We  find  that  the  forces  which 
generate  and  sustain  States  are  not  material  but  spiritual. 
We  find  that  the  great  standards  against  which  all  the 
laws  and  actions  of  men  are  measured  are  not  physical 
but  spiritual.  And  we  find  likewise  that  the  goal  toward 
which  the  State  is  moving  and  the  great  end  which  it  sub- 
serves in  the  economy  of  life,  is  not  temporal  but  spiritual. 
In  a  word,  the  State  is  the  social  sphere  of  religion,  and 
religion  is  the  real  life  of  the  State.  "  If  you  go  through 
the  world  you  may  find  cities  without  walls,  without  let- 
ters, without  rulers,  without  houses,  without  money, 
without  theaters  and  games :  but  there  was  never  yet  seen, 
nor  shall  be  seen  by  man,  a  single  city  without  temples 
and  gods,  or  without  oaths,  prophecies,  and  sacrifices  .  .  . ; 
nay,  I  am  of  opinion  that  a  city  might  be  sooner  built 
without  any  ground  beneath  it  than  a  commonwealth 
could  be  constituted  altogether  destitute  of  belief  in  the 
gods;  or  being  constituted,  could  be  preserved"  (Plu- 
tarch, "Against  Colotes,"  C.  XXXI). 


XIII 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE 

IN  the  generations  past  men  have  faced  great  problems 
and  have  made  great  sacrifices.  They  have  done  this 
that  their  children  might  have  an  inheritance  glorious 
and  unencumbered.  During  the  progress  of  the  centuries 
one  problem  after  another  has  arisen  and  has  been  met ; 
and  men  believed  that  with  the  fulfilment  of  this  task 
the  way  for  humanity's  march  might  be  smoothed. 
Abolish  autocracy,  they  have  said,  and  let  government 
rest  upon  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and  the  golden 
age  will  dawn.  Make  an  end  of  slavery  and  humanity 
can  breathe  more  freely.  Break  the  unholy  alliance  be- 
tween Church  and  State  and  both  will  speed  toward  their 
goal  with  new  hope.  Give  every  person,  whether  male  or 
female,  an  equal  vote,  and  the  new  time  will  be  at  our 
very  doors.  One  by  one  these  demands  have  been  met, 
here  or  there,  but  somehow  the  people  are  not  content. 
In  fact,  it  is  with  the  modern  State  as  with  the  desert- 
wandering  Israelites ;  to  them  the  promised  land  meant 
the  fruition  of  all  their  hopes  and  the  solution  of  all 
their  problems.  But  no  sooner  were  they  settled  in  the 
new  land  than  a  whole  troop  of  new  problems  arose,  and 
life  became  as  strenuous  as  before. 

In  all  ages  and  conditions  the  problem  of  the  State's 
existence  is  an  insistent  one,  and  every  State  has  fallen  far 
enough  below  its  ideal.  In  all  times,  and  under  the  best 
leadership,  it  has  had  a  hard  struggle  to  maintain  itself 
and  perform  the  minimum  of  its  functions.  But  in 
modern  times,  the  State,  in  these  Western  lands  at  least, 

327 


328  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

is  becoming  democratic,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  people 
has  been  formally  declared.  Now,  one  need  not  make  any 
extended  investigations  to  discover  that  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  people  do  not  possess  the  high  qualifications  that 
are  required  of  such  sovereign  citizens.  In  fact,  one 
finds  that  the  affairs  of  State  are  falling  into  hands  that 
are  poorly  prepared  to  meet  the  difficulties  and  to  bear 
the  burdens. 

Then  another  factor  enters  the  field  to  complicate  the 
whole  problem,  viz.,  the  presence  of  Christianity.  For 
nineteen  centuries  it  has  wrought  among  men,  but  it  is 
only  in  recent  times  that  its  political  bearings  have  been 
fully  seen  and  its  social  ideal  plainly  recognized.  In  these 
democratic  Western  lands  the  affairs  of  State  are  more 
and  more  falling  into  the  hands  of  men  who  have  the 
Christian  aim  and  motive.  Now,  since  the  Christian  ideal 
is  absolute  in  its  requirements,  and  the  Christian  law  is 
universal  in  its  sweep,  it  follows  that  Christian  citizenship 
is  confronted  with  the  task  of  creating  a  truly  Christian 
civilization.  Thus,  to  the  minimum  aims  and  functions 
of  the  State  are  now  added  the  maximum  aims  and 
functions  of  the  Christian  democracy.  They  who  suppose 
that  the  mere  fact  of  democracy  is  sufficient  to  solve  all 
problems  are  blind  leaders  of  the  blind.  The  truth  is,  the 
fact  of  democracy  in  itself  says  little  about  the  real  life 
of  the  people,  and  does  not  demonstrate  their  fitness  for 
self-government.  They  who  imagine  that  the  mere  pres- 
ence of  Christian  men  in  a  State  will  bring  in  the  mil- 
lennium are  no  less  blind  leaders  of  the  blind.  The  truth 
is,  the  mere  making  of  good  individuals  has  meant  very 
little  in  the  life  of  the  State ;  for  not  until  religion  be- 
comes socialized  does  it  become  fully  potent. 

This  means  that  there  are  certain  problems  that  are 
common  to  all  States,  simply  as  States,  without  regard 
to  their  form  of  government.    There  are  others  that  in  a 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  329 

way  are  characteristic  of  the  democratic  State,  and  the 
more  pure  the  democracy  the  more  numerous  these  prob- 
lems are.  Moreover,  there  are  problems  that,  in  a  sense, 
belong  only  to  the  State  that  is  approximately  Christian. 
The  special  difficulties  themselves  may  be  old,  but  they 
are  not  felt  as  problems  till  the  State  possesses  a  certain 
Christian  self-consciousness.  The  State  that  is  democratic 
must  face  all  the  problems  of  every  State,  and  many  more 
besides,  only  with  this  difference :  where  in  other  forms  of 
the  State  the  solution  is  more  or  less  optional,  in  a  democ- 
racy their  solution  is  imperative ;  for  the  very  life  of  the 
State  is  at  stake.  We  may  carry  this  one  step  farther  and 
may  apply  it  to  the  Christian  State,  which  is  called  to 
solve  all  the  problems  of  every  other  form,  with  the 
added  problems  that  grow  out  of  the  Christian  conception 
of  man ;  and  whereas  their  solution  is  vital  in  all  other 
types  of  States,  their  solution  is  here  imperative  for  the 
reason  that  the  whole  legitimacy  and  power  of  Chris- 
tianity are  at  stake  in  their  solution.  Something  will  be 
gained  if  we  can  secure  a  clear  vision  of  the  problems 
before  us  and  can  learn  how  vital  they  are  to  the  life  of 
the  State. 

I.  The  Problem  of  Public  Service.  The  fundamental 
fact  in  a  democratic  State  is  the  participation  of  the 
people  in  the  affairs  of  government.  The  time  will  never 
come  when  men  can  go  away  and  leave  their  government 
to  take  care  of  itself.  Governments  always  and  every- 
where, De  Tocqueville  reminds  us,  will  be  as  rascally  as 
people  permit  them  to  be :  and  this  is  especially  true  in  a 
democracy.  It  is  hence  almost  needless  to  say  that  the 
successful  working  of  a  democratic  government  depends 
upon  the  direct  participation  and  active  interest  of  the 
people  in  its  affairs.  Without  this  direct  participation  of 
the  people  in  government  there  can  be  no  democracy. 
Without  this  intelligent,  courageous,  and  unselfish  devo- 


33° 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


tion  to  the  public  good,  there  can  be  no  successful  democ- 
racy. Just  here  we  come  face  to  face  with  one  of  the 
most  serious  problems  of  the  modern  State.  For  alas !  the 
people  are  not  all  intelligent  in  civic  matters ;  they  arc- 
not  all  courageous ;  and  too  few  are  willing  to  make  any 
sacrifices  for  the  public  good. 

In  the  chapter  on  "  The  Dangers  of  Democracy,"  we 
have  considered  some  of  the  difficulties  that  beset  the 
democratic  State ;  and  the  dangers  we  there  considered 
define  some  of  the  problems  that  are  most  insistent  and 
troublesome.  We  may  simply  refer  to  what  was  there 
said  and  pass  on  to  notice  some  other  elements  entering 
into  the  problem.  For  one  thing,  the  democratic  idea 
implies  and  demands  an  independent  and  courageous 
spirit  in  the  rank  and  file  of  the  citizens.  It  means  the 
independence  to  think  for  one's  self  and  the  courage  to 
put  one's  convictions  into  effect.  Now,  the  simple  fact  is, 
there  is  a  large  number  of  people  in  every  community  who 
refuse  themselves  the  sacrament  of  thought  and  are  con- 
tent to  allow  some  one  else  to  think  for  them.  Popular 
government  proceeds  on  the  theory  that  the  people  are 
sovereign,  and  that  each  sovereign  will  respect  his  man- 
hood ;  that  is,  that  he  will  form  his  own  conclusions  with 
respect  to  men  and  measures,  and  will  have  sufficient 
independence  and  initiative  to  make  his  judgments 
effective. 

Then,  in  the  modern  democratic  State,  we  find  the 
party  system  in  full  operation,  and  as  the  success  of  the 
party  depends  upon  the  suppression  of  dissent,  independ- 
ence, and  courage  are  studiously  discouraged.  Regularity 
— the  willingness  to  abide  by  the  party  platform — is 
lauded,  while  irregularity — the  refusal  to  stand  by  the 
party  principles — is  denounced.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
in  the  average  community  it  costs  something  for  the 
average  citizen  to  do  his  own  thinking  and  to  follow  his 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  33 1 

own  convictions.  In  fact,  it  means  petty  persecution  that 
is  not  less  trying  because  it  is  so  insidious.  "  The  re- 
public will  perish,"  Lowell  used  to  say,  "  when  men  cease 
to  protest."  But  many  things  combine  and  conspire  to 
make  such  protest  difficult  and  dangerous  in  the  modern 
State. 

In  the  more  advanced  modern  States  the  number  of 
scholarly  and  educated  men  is  rapidly  increasing.  It 
must  be  admitted,  however,  that  this  very  culture  of  the 
few  in  a  way  unfits  them  for  the  rough  and  tumble  work 
of  practical  citizenship.  Their  culture  has  so  separated 
them  from  their  fellows  that  they  live  in  a  world  apart. 
The  moment  one  of  these  men  takes  an  interest  in  public 
affairs  and  speaks  his  protest,  he  is  likely  to  be  sneered 
at  by  the  politicians  and  suspected  by  the  people.  Thus 
it  comes  about  that  only  men  of  marked  ability  and  strong 
individuality  have  the  courage  to  do  their  own  political 
thinking  and  to  put  their  own  conclusions  into  action 
("  The  Real  Problems  of  Democracy,"  by  E.  L.  Godkin, 
"  Atlantic  Monthly,"  July,  1896). 

Further,  democracy  implies  and  demands  a  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  in  the  rank  and  file  of  the  people.  It  means 
the  willingness  to  serve  the  common  good  and  to  bear  the 
burden  and  heat  of  the  State's  struggle  for  life  and 
progress.  One  need  not  spend  much  time  in  trying  to 
show  that  not  all  men  who  are  members  of  the  democratic 
State  have  this  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  social  service. 
It  is  not  my  purpose  to  apportion  blame  for  this  condition 
of  things,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  blame  must  be  gen- 
erally distributed.  It  is  possible  that  many  of  the  ex- 
ponents of  democracy  are  to  blame  in  part,  at  least,  for 
this  condition,  for  too  long  they  have  thrown  great  em- 
phasis upon  the  doctrine  of  rights  and  have  charged  the 
people  to  consider  their  own  interests.  And  it  is  probable 
that  the  church  is  somewhat  to  blame  in  that  it  has  not 


332 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


explained  the  universality  of  the  Christian  law  and  has 
not  inspired  men  to  make  sacrifice  for  the  common  wel- 
fare. At  any  rate,  be  the  causes  what  they  may,  the  fact 
remains  that  the  number  of  men  in  the  State  who  take 
large  views  of  public  questions,  who  look  not  every  one 
upon  his  own  things  but  every  one  also  upon  the  things 
of  others,  who  are  willing  to  subordinate  self-interest 
to  the  common  welfare,  and  to  endure  hardship  without 
hope  of  gain  or  honor  is,  unfortunately,  not  large. 

This  lack  of  the  altruistic  spirit  is  seen,  on  the  one  side, 
in  the  tendency  to  construe  all  public  questions  in  terms 
of  personal  advantage.  This  is  not  all,  but  too  many 
show  a  disposition  to  use  the  machinery  of  government 
for  their  own  interests,  with  little  or  no  regard  to  the  com- 
mon welfare.  Mayor  Jones,  of  Toledo,  stated  one  day 
that  he  had  been  trying  to  find  out  the  life  principle  of  a 
number  of  so-called  successful  men.  One  man,  when 
asked  what  was  his  principle  in  life,  said  with  some 
emphasis:  "My  principle  in  life?  Well,  I  do  not  care 
what  happens  to  any  man  in  the  world  so  long  as  it  does 
not  happen  to  me."  Too  many  are  like  the  New  York 
business  man  who,  when  importuned  to  lend  his  aid  and  in- 
fluence in  behalf  of  a  necessary  but  unpopular  reform,  said 
with  some  impatience  :  "  This  is  all  very  well,  but  I  do  not 
see  how  it  concerns  me."  It  has  come  to  this,  that  men  do 
not  expect  altruistic  service,  and  when  they  find  a  man 
who  is  showing  unusual  interest  in  public  matters,  they 
at  once  suspect  him  of  ulterior  motives.  Many  men  are 
concerned  with  the  question  of  making  a  living  and  get- 
ting rich,  and  they  are  quite  ready  to  turn  over  to  the 
politicians  the  selection  of  proper  candidates  for  public 
office  and  the  settlement  of  questions  of  public  moment. 
Such  men,  it  may  be  said,  are  among  the  most  discourag- 
ing and  dangerous  men  in  the  land;  they  are  the  very 
people  who  are  jeopardizing  free  institutions  and  are 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  333 

casting  popular  government  under  a  cloud.  Society  is 
possible  only  where  there  are  many  altruistic  and  self- 
sacrificing  people  who  look  not  alone  on  their  own  things, 
but  also  on  the  things  of  others.  Social  progress  is  pos- 
sible only  where  there  are  many  people  who  are  willing 
to  subordinate  self-interest  and  to  live  for  the  common 
life. 

Finally,  democracy  demands  from  every  citizen  un-^ 
ceasing  vigilance  and  a  public  spirit.  How  to  secure 
these  is  one  of  the  primary  problems  that  confront  the 
modern  State.  In  the  republic  of  Athens  no  important 
law  could  be  passed  unless  six  thousand  votes  in  its  favor 
were  deposited  in  the  urns.  To  secure  an  audience  of 
necessary  size,  servants  of  the  State  were  sent  through 
the  market-place  with  a  rope  chalked  red ;  and  whosoever 
received  from  that  a  stain  on  his  toga  was  fined  as  an 
enemy  of  the  State.  Charles  Sumner  often  affirmed  that 
the  citizen  who  neglects  his  political  duties  is  a  public 
enemy.  A  law  of  Pythagoras  pronounced  every  man 
"  infamous  who,  in  questions  of  public  moment,  did  not 
take  sides"  (Cook,  "On  Conscience,"  p.  255).  To  go 
into  politics  to  serve  selfish  ends  may  be  culpable,  but  it 
is  still  more  culpable  to  stay  out  of  politics  for  selfish 
reasons.  The  modern  State  must  create  such  a  public 
sentiment  that  every  self-respecting  man  will  be  ashamed 
to  shirk  his  public  duties.  No  one  can  be  a  good  man  and 
a  bad  citizen.  Does  a  man  possess  culture,  and  wealth, 
and  the  Christian  spirit  ?  Then  there  is  every  reason  why 
he  should  take  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs,  why  he 
should  accept  the  leadership  of  the  social  faith.  Democ- 
racy does  not  mean  equality  in  ability,  and  it  does  not 
mean  the  absence  of  all  leadership.  The  fact  is,  leader- 
ship is  more  necessary  in  a  democracy  than  in  autocracy, 
but  it  is  a  leadership  of  a  different  kind.  In  a  democracy 
it  must  be  a  leadership  of  intelligence  and  character,  and 


334 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


it  must  find  its  warrant  in  the  confidence  of  the  people. 
How  to  secure  this  public  service  from  qualified  men  is 
one  of  the  most  abiding  and  difficult  problems  of  the 
democratic  State.  In  a  way  it  lies  at  the  basis  of  all  other 
problems,  and  in  a  real  sense  its  solution  means  the  solu- 
tion of  the  other  problems  of  society.  Some,  indeed,  be- 
cause of  this  lack  of  public  spirit  in  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  people  take  a  gloomy  view  of  the  democratic  experi- 
ment. 

II.  The  Problem  of  Political  Corruption.  It  does  not 
lie  within  the  scope  of  our  purpose  to  institute  any  com- 
parison between  the  past  and  the  present  condition  of  the 
world.  It  does  not  change  the  problem  before  us  to  say 
that  there  was  more  political  corruption  and  fraud  in 
other  lands  and  generations  than  is  found  to-day  in 
democratic  lands.  And  it  does  not  demonstrate  the  suc- 
cess of  the  democratic  experiment  to  prove  that  in  a 
democracy  men  are  more  honest  than  in  an  autocracy. 
Such  comparisons  are  wide  of  the  mark  for  these  reasons : 
democracy  itself  is  a  comparatively  recent  thing,  and 
hence  such  a  moral  comparison  is  out  of  the  question ; 
and  the  amount  of  corruption  and  fraud  that  may  little 
affect  the  stability  of  government  in  autocracy  may 
undermine  the  very  foundations  of  a  democracy.  And 
yet  the  long  study  of  history  will  show  that  the  great 
monarchies  of  the  past  came  to  their  downfall  because  of 
the  corruption  and  injustice  that  prevailed. 

Not  only  so,  but  in  all  the  democratic  experiments  of 
the  past  corruption  and  injustice  have  been  the  chief 
causes  of  death.  In  brief,  the  history  of  every  democratic 
experiment  in  the  past  can  be  told  in  a  few  words  :  First, 
poverty  and  struggle,  with  honesty  and  justice ;  then 
success  and  progress,  with  growing  pride  and  increasing 
wealth ;  then  luxury  and  corruption,  with  suspicion  and 
division  ending  in  dissolution  and  desolation.    There  is 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  335 

one  lesson  that  conies  to  us  from  every  nation  of  the 
past,  that  the  principles  of  honesty  and  fair  dealing  and 
justice  are  principles  of  unity,  peace,  and  strength,  while 
the  vices  of  chicane,  and  corruption,  and  oppression,  are 
the  vices  that  spell  suspicion,  conflict,  and  ruin. 

One  form  of  corruption  to  be  mentioned  is  what  is 
known  as  vote-buying.  Careful  investigations  have  been 
made  in  various  States  concerning  the  extent  of  this 
evil,  and  the  figures  are  not  reassuring.  In  some  com- 
munities the  proportion  of  venal  voters  is  placed  as 
high  as  twenty-five  per  cent. ;  and  this  means  that  by 
the  use  of  money  men  are  able  to  turn  elections  pretty 
much  as  they  please.  It  is  certain  that  the  men  who  gain 
office  by  such  means  are  not  careful  to  use  that  office  for 
the  public  good  alone ;  in  fact,  men  are  willing  to  make 
such  expenditures  of  money  because  they  hope  to  recoup 
themselves  in  some  way.  The  use  of  money  in  elections 
is  a  matter  of  public  shame  and  open  scandal.  Some  of 
the  highest  offices  in  the  United  States  are  believed  to 
have  been  secured  by  the  use  of  money.  The  fact  is, 
many  have  come  to  look  upon  membership  in  the  United 
States  Senate  as  the  purchase  of  millionaires  or  the 
reward  of  politicians. 

Then,  in  many  of  the  cities  and  States  of  America, 
popular  government  is  under  a  cloud  because  of  the 
notorious  frauds  that  are  perpetrated.  Special  privileges 
aand  franchises  are  a  marketable  asset,  and  hence  many 
men  are  anxious  to  obtain  them.  Not  only  so,  but  the 
corporations  holding  these  privileges  do  not  always  find 
it  convenient  and  profitable  to  observe  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances ;  and  hence  they  are  interested  in  securing  the  elec- 
tion of  manageable  men  and  keeping  government  as 
inefficient  as  possible.  In  all  the  cities  and  States  where 
corruption  reigns  it  is  usually  found  that  the  head  and 
front  of  the  offending  are  the  great  corporations  which 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


hold  special  privileges  that  have  vast  money  value.  And 
it  is  invariably  found  that  these  special  interests  join 
hands  with  the  lawless  and  depraved  members  of  society 
in  securing  the  election  of  corrupt  and  compliant  men. 

Akin  to  this  is  the  corrupt  use  of  money  in  social  and 
political  affairs.  The  way  in  which  many  great  rail- 
roads, street  railways,  gas,  and  water  companies  have 
obtained  valuable  franchises  is  a  matter  of  public  scandal. 
The  power  of  organized  money  in  city  and  State  and 
national  elections  is  tremendous,  and  every  legislative 
body  has  felt  its  baleful  and  dangerous  touch.  Hon. 
Wayne  MacYeagh  has  said  that  the  black  flag  of  the 
corruptionist  is  more  to  be  feared  than  the  red  flag  of 
the  anarchist.  A  recent  writer,  who  is  utterly  opposed  to 
socialism,  and  cannot  be  accused  of  any  antipathy  to 
wealth,  writes :  "  It  is  not  the  existence  of  inherited 
wealth,  even  on  a  very  large  scale,  that  is  likely  to  shake 
seriously  the  respect  for  property  :  it  is  the  many  examples 
which  the  conditions  of  modern  society  present,  of  vast 
wealth  acquired  by  shameful  means,  employed  for  shame- 
ful purposes,  and  exercising  an  altogether  undue  influence 
in  society  and  in  the  State.  When  triumphant  robbery 
is  found  among  the  rich,  subversive  doctrines  will  grow 
among  the  poor.  When  democracy  turns,  as  it  often 
does,  into  a  corrupt  plutocracy,  both  national  decadence 
and  social  revolution  are  being  prepared"  (Lecky, 
"  Democracy  and  Liberty,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  501,  502). 

It  may  be  admitted  that  some  of  this  corruption  is  more 
or  less  inevitable  while  human  nature  is  as  it  is.  Some 
there  are  who  tell  us  that  these  questions  of  corruption 
are  at  bottom  individual  questions ;  the  character  of  the 
mass  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  units ;  and  so 
long  as  you  have  depraved  men  to  deal  with,  so  long 
you  will  have  corruption  in  the  State.  All  this  is  trite 
enough,  but  it  is  too  trite  to  touch  the  real  heart  of  the 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE 


337 


difficulty.  In  his  autobiography,  John  Stuart  Mill  has 
indicated  some  of  the  convictions  that  grew  in  his  life 
and  determined  his  conduct.  He  saw  that  interest  in  the 
common  good  is  now  so  weak  a  motive  in  the  generality 
of  men,  not  because  it  never  can  be  otherwise,  but  be- 
cause the  mind  is  not  accustomed  to  dwell  on  it  as  it 
dwells  from  morning  to  night  on  the  things  that  tend  only 
to  personal  advantage.  "  The  deep-rooted  selfishness 
which  forms  the  general  character  of  the  existing  state  of 
society,  is  so  deeply  rooted,  only  because  the  whole  course 
of  existing  institutions  tends  to  foster  it ;  and  modern 
institutions,  in  some  respects  more  than  ancient,  since 
the  occasions  on  which  the  individual  is  called  to  do  any- 
thing for  the  public  without  receiving  its  pay,  are  far 
less  frequent  in  modern  life,  than  in  the  smaller  common- 
wealths of  antiquity"  (Mill,  "Autobiography,"  p.  233). 

This  problem  of  corruption  is  a  real  one,  and  be  its 
sources  personal  or  social,  due  to  wrong  ways  of  thought 
or  defective  institutions  in  society,  the  very  existence  of 
the  State  and  its  progress  in  moral  life  depend  upon  its 
solution.  This  corruption  in  society  threatens  the  very 
life  of  the  State,  for  a  democratic  and  Christian  State 
must  be  both  honest  and  pure. 

III.  The  Problem  of  Intemperance.  One  of  the  chief 
concerns  of  every  State  is  its  own  preservation.  One  of 
the  prime  means  to  this  end  is  the  self-control  and  so- 
briety of  the  people.  This  is  important  under  every  form 
of  government,  but  is  absolutely  essential  in  a  democratic 
government.  Democracy  is  organized  self-control,  and 
democracy  is  but  a  name  when  self-control  is  lost. 

In  the  democratic  State  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that 
men  be  sober  and  practise  self-control.  That  men  may 
fulfil  the  duties  of  their  citizenship  they  must  be  calm 
and  rational ;  they  must  possess  the  ability  to  view  all 
public  questions  without  passion  and  prejudice ;  and  with 
w 


338 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


it  all  they  must  learn  to  subordinate  self  to  the  common 
life,  and  must  take  thought  for  the  common  safety.  That 
the  use  of  intoxicants  of  all  kinds  unfits  men  for  the 
discharge  of  these  duties;  that  the  common  use  of  such 
intoxicants  injures  them  mentally  and  physically,  and 
their  excessive  use  wholly  unfits  them  for  citizenship  in 
the  State,  is  known  to  all.  That  intoxicants  have  a 
peculiar  power  over  the  kingliest  powers  of  the  soul ; 
that  they  weaken  the  rational  and  volitional  faculties  of 
man  is  known  to  all  students  of  psychology  and  common 
life.  And  hence  it  is  that  intemperance  is  one  of  the  life 
and  death  problems  of  the  democratic  State. 

The  more  intelligently  one  studies  this  problem  the 
more  difficult  does  its  solution  appear.  It  is  not  by  any 
means  the  simple  problem  that  some  suppose,  and  there 
is  no  patent  panacea  that  will  effect  an  immediate  cure. 
For,  the  moment  we  study  this  evil  of  intemperance  in 
its  sources,  we  find  that  three  of  the  strongest  and  most 
constant  passions  of  the  human  heart  are  at  its  roots. 
First,  we  have  the  love  of  gain.  There  are  great  financial 
interests  at  stake  in  this  traffic.  There  are  vast  profits 
both  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicants,  and 
some  of  the  great  fortunes  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic 
have  been  made  in  this  business.  In  all  ages  and  lands 
moralists  and  legislators  have  recognized  the  fatal  power 
of  gold  to  warp  the  judgment  and  bias  the  mind ;  for  the 
sake  of  money  it  is  found  that  men  will  sell  their  manhood 
and  will  place  stumbling-blocks  before  their  fellows ; 
for  the  sake  of  money  men  will  seek  to  create  the  appe- 
tite for  intoxicants  in  every  new  generation ;  for  the  sake 
of  increasing  their  revenues  they  will  persuade  men  to 
drink  beyond  the  safety  line,  and  will  evade  and  counter- 
act the  laws  wherever  possible.  Secondly,  we  have  the 
appetite  for  stimulants.  The  craving  for  stimulants  is 
a  strong  instinct  in  human  beings.   In  all  ages  and  lands 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  339 

men  have  found  that  alcoholic  beverages  possess  the 
peculiar  power  of  producing  temporary  stimulation  of 
their  mental  and  physical  being.  In  addition  to  the  com- 
mon craving  for  stimulants,  there  is  an  abnormal  craving 
that  is  induced  by  the  struggle  and  stress  of  modern 
industrial  and  social  life.  At  any  rate,  from  one  cause 
and  another,  this  appetite  is  created  in  men;  and  when 
once  developed  it  is  imperious  in  its  demands.  The  appe- 
tite for  alcoholic  stimulants  is  an  abnormal  one,  but  it  is 
a  common  craving ;  and  the  appetite,  when  once  formed,  is 
most  potent  in  its  sway.  Thirdly,  the  instinct  for  social 
fellowship.  Man  is  by  nature  a  social  being,  and  the 
desire  for  fellowship  is  one  of  the  strongest  instincts  of 
his  nature.  The  saloon  is  the  most  democratic  institution 
in  the  world,  and  all  men  are  made  welcome  and  no 
questions  asked.  In  the  saloon  men  find  brilliant  lights 
and  good  cheer ;  here  they  find  social  fellowship  and  free 
conversation.  The  modern  saloon  has  such  a  strong  hold 
because  it  supplies  a  social  need.  It  supplies  that  need  in 
a  very  questionable  and  unsatisfactory  way,  but  it  supplies 
it  as  no  other  existing  institution  does. 

In  veriest  truth  it  may  be  said  that  this  traffic  is  a 
stumbling-block  that  lies  right  across  the  path  of  the 
State,  and  the  State  cannot  truly  advance  till  this  stum- 
bling-block is  removed.  The  liquor  traffic  is  a  standing 
menace  to  popular  government,  and  intemperance  is  one 
of  the  most  urgent  problems  of  the  modern  State. 

IV.  The  Problem  of  the  Disinherited.  In  these  modern 
times  some  wholly  new  problems  have  come  into  the  fore- 
ground and  are  clamoring  for  solution.  We  do  not  mean 
that  these  new  problems  are  new  things  in  society.  There 
is  probably  not  an  evil  in  modern  life  that  is  not  as  old 
as  the  pyramids  and  as  threadbare  as  the  beggar's  coat. 
But,  and  this  is  significant,  these  evils  have  never  been 
felt  before  as  they  are  felt  to-day.  For  men  are  coming  to 


340 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


social  self-consciousness  and  are  becoming  sensitive,  and 
as  a  consequence  many  evils,  almost  unnoticed  heretofore, 
are  regarded  as  problems.  One  of  these  clamant  modern 
problems  is  what  we  may  call  the  problem  of  the  disin- 
herited. 

I.  That  there  is  a  large  class  of  persons  in  modern 
society  who  may  be  so  called  is  known  to  all.  By  the  term 
we  do  not  mean  that  there  is  a  large  class  who  are 
legally  disfranchised  or  formally  disinherited,  for  in  the 
foremost  nations  of  the  world  no  such  class  is  found.  In 
this  respect  the  modern  world  is  far  in  advance  of  the 
ancient.  In  the  republics  of  Greece,  even  in  their  palmiest 
days,  there  was  a  large  slave  population  that  had  no 
political  rights  and  no  legal  standing.  In  the  empire  of 
Rome  there  was  an  enormous  number  of  slaves  who  had 
no  recognized  rights,  and  toward  whom  none  had  any 
recognized  duties.  All  through  the  Middle  Ages  much 
the  same  conditions  obtained.  In  all  these  respects  a 
great  change  has  come,  and  slavery  and  serfdom  are  no 
longer  found  in  any  recognized  and  legal  form.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  is  some  recognition,  in  a  formal  way, 
at  least,  of  ever}-  person  in  the  State,  and  some  definition 
of  his  rights. 

It  remains  true,  however,  that  in  the  best  of  modern 
States  there  is  a  large  class  of  persons  who  have  no  fair 
and  real  inheritance  in  society.  That  this  is  so  is  made 
very  evident  by  a  study  of  conditions  in  our  modern  cities. 
Thus,  in  Britain  and  America — to  go  no  further — we 
find  that  there  is  a  large  class  who  compose  what  is 
called  the  "  Submerged  Tenth."  Above  this  is  a  larger 
class  in  poverty,  who  are  unable  to  obtain  those  neces- 
saries which  will  permit  them  to  maintain  a  state  of 
physical  efficiency.  This  latter  class,  according  to  the 
careful  investigations  of  Charles  Booth,  numbers  thirty 
and  seven-tenths  per  cent,  in  London  "  (  Hunter.  "  Pov- 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  34I 

erty,"  pp.  5,  18).  And  it  appears  from  these  investiga- 
tions that  fifty-five  per  cent,  of  the  very  poor  and  sixty- 
eight  per  cent,  of  the  other  poor  are  so,  not  through  any 
fault  of  their  own,  but  simply  because  they  lack  employ- 
ment. In  London  this  investigator  found  that  over  two 
and  a  half  million  people,  singly  or  in  companies,  live  in 
one  room — sleeping,  cooking,  eating,  and  bathing  within 
the  same  four  walls.  In  Scotland,  according  to  official 
figures,  over  one-third  of  the  families  live  in  a  single 
room,  and  more  than  two-thirds  in  only  two  rooms.  The 
one  who  walks  through  the  wynds  and  closes  of  Edin- 
burgh and  Glasgow  with  open  eyes  is  tempted  at  times  to 
call  for  the  crack  of  doom  to  come  and  end  all. 

But  the  United  States  is  not  entirely  above  reproach 
in  these  respects.  It  is  true  that  economic  conditions  here 
are  very  much  better  than  in  the  Old  World,  but  none  the 
less  the  facts  are  appalling.  In  1890,  according  to  Bishop 
Huntington,  "  recent  certified  revelations  have  laid  bare 
the  multiplied  horrors  and  depravities  of  the  tenement 
population  in  great  cities,  where  forty-one  out  of  every 
hundred  families  live  in  a  single  room,  and  where  the 
poorest  pay  more  rent  than  the  richest  for  each  cubic  foot 
of  space  and  air  "  ("  The  Forum,"  October,  1890).  New 
York  is  one  of  the  richest  States  in  the  Union,  and  yet 
the  reports  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  show  that 
from  year  to  year  about  twenty-four  per  cent,  of  the 
people  apply  for  relief  of  some  kind.  In  the  year  1903 
fourteen  per  cent,  of  the  families  in  Manhattan  were 
evicted  for  various  causes.  And  more  tragic  than  all, 
from  year  to  year  ten  per  cent,  of  those  who  die  in  New 
York  are  buried  in  potter's  field  ("  Report  of  Department 
of  Corrections,"  N.  Y.,  1902).  In  1900,  in  New  York 
State,  a  commission  was  created  to  investigate  tenement 
conditions  in  New  York  City.  After  several  days'  investi- 
gation in  silent  amazement,  the  Buffalo  members  of  the 


342 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


commission  declared :  "  New  York  ought  to  be  abolished." 

The  figures  given  suggest  a  problem  that  they  do  not 
fully  define.  For,  while  poverty  is  a  sign  and  cause  of 
this  social  disinheritance,  it  is  not  by  any  means  the 
only  sign  or  cause.  Along  with  this  must  be  named  the 
sickness  that  weakens  and  makes  impossible  the  highest 
attainments.  This  problem  of  sickness  and  disease  is 
one  that  has  been  with  man  from  the  beginning,  and 
may  remain  with  him  for  some  time  to  come.  But 
to-day  we  are  coming  to  see  ever  more  clearly 
that  many  of  these  forms  of  disease  are  due  to  social 
causes,  and  no  longer  must  be  accepted  as  a  matter 
of  course.  Not  only  so,  but  in  all  of  our  cities,  large  or 
small,  there  is  a  slum  district  which  is  a  kind  of  moral 
maelstrom.  In  these  slum  districts  thousands  of  chil- 
dren are  born,  who  by  the  very  circumstances  of  their 
lives  are  doomed  from  the  start.  Many  of  them  grow  up 
ignorant  and  morally  undeveloped;  the  tender  bloom  of 
virtue  is  rubbed  off  the  soul  before  the  girl  has  learned 
the  meaning  of  purity,  and  the  high  possibilities  of  man- 
hood are  blighted  before  the  tendrils  of  the  soul  have 
unfolded. 

2.  Another  aspect  of  this  problem  is  seen  in  what  may 
be  called  the  industrial  exploitation  of  childhood.  That 
this  evil  of  child  labor  is  a  very  real  one,  even  in  the  life 
of  the  foremost  nations,  is  too  manifest  to  require  any 
extended  proof.  It  is  possible  to  quote  the  figures  show- 
ing the  number  of  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age 
toiling  in  fields  and  factories,  in  mines  and  workshops ; 
but  figures  do  not  mean  very  much.  Census  returns  of 
government  and  reports  of  industrial  commissions  show, 
however,  that  in  many  parts  of  the  land,  in  many  lines  of 
industry  and  trade,  children  of  tender  years  are  employed 
at  tasks  that  are  often  hazardous  and  usually  mechanical, 
for  long  hours,  and  in  conditions  that  are  unsanitary  and 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  343 

depressing.  Not  only  are  the  children  deprived  of  the 
right  to  play  and  the  privilege  of  an  education,  but  their 
very  occupation  tends  inevitably  to  weaken  the  body  and 
stunt  the  mind,  and  thus  unfit  them  for  full  life  and  large 
usefulness  in  the  State.  The  child  is  made  old  before 
he  is  young,  and  he  is  early  cast  aside  as  so  much  worn-out 
machinery  that  is  no  longer  profitable. 

By  this  system  of  child  labor,  society  really  disinherits 
a  large  proportion  of  its  members,  and  forever  debars 
them  from  the  best  things  of  life.  By  it  society  also  loses 
a  large  fraction  of  its  most  valuable  asset.  There  may 
be  some  industrial  gain  from  this  labor  of  the  children ; 
but  the  losses  far  outbalance  the  gain.  The  fact  is,  from 
every  point  of  view,  child  labor  is  an  evil  without  one 
valid  argument  in  its  support  or  extenuation.  It  is  a 
waste  of  the  nation's  most  valuable  asset,  the  manhood  of 
its  people.  It  is  economic  suicide,  for  it  produces  an 
inert,  inefficient  mass  of  laborers.  It  is  wholly  unneces- 
sary, for  the  nations  where  this  evil  is  most  prevalent 
are  no  longer  in  need  of  calling  all  hands  to  work.  It 
is  impossible  for  a  people  to  tolerate  this  evil  and  preserve 
its  self-respect  while  professing  faith  in  the  democratic 
creed  and  maintaining  allegiance  to  the  Christian  ideal. 
One  of  the  gladdest  things  that  the  prophet  can  say  of  the 
city  that  is  coming  in  the  new  time  is  this :  "  The  streets 
of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys  and  girls  playing  in  the 
broad  places  thereof"  (Zech.  8:5). 

3.  A  third  aspect  of  this  problem  is  seen  in  the  inade- 
quate provision  that  is  made,  even  in  the  most  progressive 
nations,  for  the  full  training  of  each  life  and  its  fitness 
for  service  in  the  commonwealth.  This  is  too  large  a 
problem  for  treatment  here,  and  we  can  only  notice  one 
element  that  makes  it  so  real.  Thus,  the  number  of  per- 
sons who  receive  what  may  be  called  an  adequate  educa- 
tion, that  is  a  training  that  shall  unfold  their  powers  and 


344 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


prepare  them  to  co-operate  with  society  in  perfecting  its 
own  life,  is  comparatively  small,  even  in  the  most  ad- 
vanced and  intelligent  State.  It  is  true  that  in  some  lands 
that  are  most  democratic  and  Christian,  a  system  of  public 
education  has  been  created  which  aims  to  provide  for  every 
child  the  rudiments  of  an  education.  And  it  is  also  true 
that  in  some  of  these  States  provision  is  made  for  the 
advanced  education  of  many.  No  one  who  is  familiar 
with  the  aims  and  achievements  of  this  system  of  State 
education  can  make  light  of  it;  in  fact,  he  must  see  in  it 
one  of  the  most  auspicious  omens  for  the  betterment  of 
man.  And  yet  when  this  has  been  said,  the  whole  story 
has  not  been  told ;  for  the  fact  yet  remains  that  this  sys- 
tem of  education,  in  its  most  elementary  stages,  is  not 
accomplishing  the  results  that  might  be  expected,  while  a 
large  proportion  of  the  people  are  practically  debarred 
by  circumstances  over  which  they  have  no  control  from 
the  advantages  of  a  higher  education.  All  this  shows 
that  even  in  the  most  advanced  and  intelligent  society 
there  is  a  large  class  that  is  practically  disinherited ; 
that  is,  they  begin  life  under  a  heavy  handicap ;  all 
through  life,  owing  to  the  lack  of  opportunity  and  ade- 
quate training,  they  are  denied  access  to  the  best  things 
in  life.  They  are  wholly  unable  to  rise  into  better  condi- 
tions; the  natural  powers  and  latent  resources  of  their 
souls  are  never  nourished  into  life ;  they  are  what  may  be 
called  the  disinherited  classes  in  society. 

These  facts  have  a  double  significance,  a  personal  and 
a  social,  and  each  is  deserving  of  careful  consideration. 
In  its  personal  aspect  the  saddest  thing  about  all  this 
ignorance  and  poverty  is  not  the  suffering  and  ignorance 
themselves,  though  these  are  often  sad  enough ;  the  most 
tragic  thing  about  it  all  is  the  waste  of  human  life,  the  fact 
that  the  possibilities  of  many  lives  are  never  unfolded. 
In  its  social  aspects  the  most  tragic  fact  about  it  all  is 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  345 

this :  that  in  every  generation  there  is  a  heavy  loss  of  so 
much  social  possibility ;  that  is,  so  few  persons  make 
any  real  and  adequate  contribution  to  the  total  wealth  of 
society.  The  number  of  persons  born  in  a  generation  may 
represent  the  total  latent  powers  and  potential  resources 
of  that  generation.  But  thus  far  no  generation  in  any 
land  has  as  yet  succeeded  in  developing  and  garnering 
for  the  use  of  society  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  total 
powers  and  resources  of  mankind.  Through  poverty 
and  crime,  through  want  of  training  and  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity, at  least  four-fifths  of  the  total  possibility  of  any 
one  generation  is  practically  undeveloped.  Could  these 
handicaps  be  removed,  could  every  person  receive  an 
adequate  education,  could  the  latent  powers  of  all  men  be 
developed,  and  could  every  person  receive  a  fair  in- 
heritance in  society,  the  present  working  forces  of  society 
could  be  centupled  (Ward  "Applied  Sociology,"  234). 
These  people  so  held  back  are  men  and  women  of  normal 
minds  and  human  souls,  and  susceptible,  if  surrounded  by 
the  same  influences  as  the  educated  and  moral,  of  becom- 
ing as  capable  and  intelligent  as  they  (Ward,  ibid.,  p.  313). 
They  possess  the  same  human  nature  as  their  more  suc- 
cessful brothers,  and  under  different  circumstances  they 
also  might  stand  upon  their  feet  and  become  agents  of 
civilization  and  contribute  their  share  to  human  achieve- 
ment. 

In  all  times  men  have  observed  these  facts,  but  it  is 
only  in  recent  times  that  they  have  become  a  problem  to 
society  itself.  In  all  the  earlier  times  men  accepted  these 
differences  of  fortune  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  conse- 
quently they  felt  little  responsibility  for  their  removal. 
Thus,  in  practically  every  nation  in  the  ancient  world, 
it  was  believed  that  mankind  was  composed  of  several 
varieties  of  human  beings,  made  of  different  kinds  of 
clay ;  the  best  things  in  life  were  for  the  few,  while  the 


346 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


great  mass  of  the  people  were  made  to  be  underlings  and 
servants,  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  and 
wholly  unfitted  for  culture  and  progress.  At  different 
times,  in  the  name  of  theology,  men  have  defended  the 
existing  inequalities  of  society  as  a  part  of  the  decree 
of  God,  and  consequently  these  differences  among  men 
were  neither  to  be  questioned  nor  changed.  It  is  a  matter 
of  record  also  that  the  time  has  been  when  an  English 
bishop  actually  defended  poverty  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
necessary  that  there  be  a  certain  amount  of  misery  in  the 
world  in  order  that  good  people  may  have  some  objects 
on  which  to  exercise  the  grace  of  charity.  It  is  a  matter 
of  common  knowledge  that  there  are  some  sociologists, 
even  in  the  most  enlightened  lands,  who  regard  poverty 
and  drink  shops  as  more  or  less  necessary  and  inevitable. 
For  the  relentless  suppression  of  the  weak  and  unfit 
through  such  means,  we  are  told,  is  nature's  method  of 
eliminating  the  unfit  and  improving  the  human  breed.  In 
later  times  the  impression  has  gained  currency  that  the 
law  of  nature  is  struggle  for  existence  with  the  survival 
of  the  fittest,  with  the  corollary  law  that  those  who  do  not 
survive  are  the  unfittest  and  deserve  to  perish. 

The  formal  criticism  of  these  views  is  here  impossible, 
and  it  is  not  necessary.  But  it  may  be  said  that  they  one 
and  all  rest  upon  what  may  be  called  the  aristocratic 
view  of  human  nature ;  that  is,  they  all  assume  that  there 
are  certain  differences  among  men  which  are  natural 
and  necessary  which  can  never  be  wholly  eradicated  and 
ought  never  to  be  ignored. 

Some  of  these  views  frankly  charge  up  these  differences 
to  the  decrees  of  God,  and  men  have  not  hesitated  to 
misapply  the  words  of  Scripture  and  talk  about  the  vessels 
made  for  dishonor.  Other  of  these  views  assume  that 
there  are  natural  and  essential  differences  in  human  lives, 
and  we  have  great  systems  of  caste  based  upon  this  be- 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  347 

lief.  Whatever  may  be  their  basis  and  reason,  such  views 
all  rest,  in  the  last  analysis,  upon  what  we  have  called 
the  aristocratic  view  of  human  nature. 

But  to  the  modern  man  these  views  have  become  in- 
tolerable, and  he  can  no  longer  rest  under  their  burden. 
A  new  spirit,  the  Christian  democratic  spirit,  has  arisen 
and  challenges  every  one  of  these  views.  According  to 
this,  men  are  all  brothers  in  one  family  because  children  of 
one  Father ;  they  are  all  made  of  the  same  clay,  and  hence 
they  all  have  the  same  nature  and  capabilities.  Men  are 
different  in  mental  endowments  and  talents,  but  these 
are  merely  incidental  and  external ;  in  essence  they  are 
alike  and  equal,  and  each  has  the  same  value  and  meaning 
as  the  other.  Every  child  in  the  State  has  his  place  in  the 
State,  and  his  life  has  some  meaning  in  the  total  meaning 
of  society.  There  is  no  reason  in  the  nature  of  things 
why  a  few  should  have  a  large  fraction  of  this  heritage 
while  the  great  majority  are  practically  disinherited.  The 
Father  has  made  provision  for  all  his  children,  and  his 
bounties  are  for  all  alike.  This  defines  the  problem  that 
modern  society  must  solve,  if  it  would  be  Christian  in 
spirit  and  democratic  in  form.  And  this  defines  a  task 
which  we  shall  consider  in  another  chapter,  "  The  Pro- 
gramme of  the  Christian  Society." 

V.  The  Problem  of  the  Unfit.  Akin  to  the  problem 
just  named,  and  related  to  the  problem  next  to  be  con- 
sidered, is  another  which  is  no  less  vital  and  significant. 
In  a  way  it  may  be  regarded  as  the  problem  of  all  prob- 
lems, the  one  problem  that  has  the  most  intimate  relation 
to  the  progress  and  the  welfare  of  man.  This  is  what 
we  may  call  the  problem  of  the  unfit. 

The  history  of  progress,  it  has  been  said,  is  the  record 
of  the  gradual  diminution  of  waste.  In  all  the  lower 
stages  of  life  the  amount  of  waste  is  enormous,  and  com- 
paratively few  living  creatures  reach  maturity.    As  we 


348 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


rise  in  the  scale  we  find  that  the  amount  of  waste  is 
diminishing,  and  fewer  creatures  perish  in  the  struggle. 
In  the  higher  stages,  among  civilized  men,  this  waste  is 
reduced  to  the  minimum,  and  life  has  a  higher  value.  The 
history  of  civilization,  as  Professor  Huxley  assures  us,  is 
the  record  of  the  attempts  which  the  human  race  has 
made  to  escape  from  the  unchecked  sway  of  the  principle 
of  the  struggle  for  existence  with  the  destruction  of  the 
unfittest. 

But  this  struggle  for  existence  is  not  by  any  means 
the  meaningless  and  cruel  thing  that  it  may  at  first  sight 
appear  to  be.  It  is  nature's  way  of  detecting  superiority 
and  of  declaring  the  qualities  that  are  worthful  in  life. 
In  the  jungle,  where  life  is  little  else  than  a  free  fight, 
only  those  creatures  who  are  possessed  of  full  vitality  and 
alert  senses  have  any  chance  of  surviving;  the  weak  and 
crippled,  the  dull-eyed  and  heavy-footed  are  doomed, 
and  inevitably  perish.  In  a  savage  society,  where  the 
struggle  is  little  modified  by  intelligent  and  moral  action, 
the  number  who  fail  to  survive  is  quite  large,  for  the 
weak  and  defective,  the  diseased  and  crippled  soon  perish. 
There  are  no  mental  and  physical  weaklings ;  the  diseased 
and  malformed  receive  no  care,  and  they  unfailingly  die. 
The  struggle  is  severe,  and  the  results  are  tragic,  but  by 
this  process  the  blood  of  the  tribe  is  kept  comparatively 
pure,  and  the  highest  efficiency  of  the  clan  is  maintained. 
It  is  easy,  of  course,  for  one  to  condemn  all  this  as  a  mark 
of  human  depravity,  and  in  a  higher  stage  of  society  it 
would  be  worthy  of  all  condemnation.  But  behind  it  all 
there  is  the  effort  on  the  part  of  the  tribe  to  maintain 
its  own  existence  and  to  preserve  the  highest  standard. 
The  struggle  for  a  bare  existence  is  hard,  and  the  tribe 
cannot  afford  to  carry  any  superfluous  impediments 
without  endangering  its  own  life. 

But  in  a  civilized  and  moral  society  all  this  is  changed, 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  349 

and  emphasis  is  now  thrown  upon  the  factors  of  altruism 
and  social  philanthropy.  The  Christian  spirit  has  created 
many  types  of  eleemosynary  effort,  and  a  studied  desire 
is  shown  to  minister  to  the  less  endowed  and  keep  every 
human  infant  alive.  Not  only  so,  but  in  the  progress  of 
society  there  has  been  evolved  various  methods  of  medical 
practice  which  result  in  lessening  disease  and  lengthening 
human  life.  To-day  medical  science  that  is  motived  by 
the  spirit  of  Christ  declares  that  no  single  life  in  the  com- 
munity shall  live  uncared  for  or  shall  die  if  its  life  can  be 
prolonged.  In  a  large  way  it  may  be  said  that  society  is 
intelligent  and  civilized  and  Christian  in  the  degree  that 
its  members  practise  mutual  aid  and  live  for  the  common 
life.  In  a  large  way,  also,  it  may  be  said  that  a  society  is 
uncivilized  and  barbarous  in  the  degree  in  which  its 
members  neglect  the  weak  and  permit  them  to  perish. 
This  concern  for  the  weak,  this  effort  to  help  the  helpless, 
is  proper  and  right,  and  every  lover  of  his  kind  must 
rejoice  in  this  triumph  of  love  and  science  over  disease 
and  death. 

But  all  this  raises  a  problem  that  is  one  of  the  most 
real  and  fateful  that  society  has  to  meet.  Is  all  this  a  real 
benefit  to  the  race,  or  is  it  a  fatal  injury?  We  may  grant 
that  the  principle  of  natural  selection  is  ruthless  so  far  as 
its  results  are  concerned,  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  this 
principle  is  of  great  service  in  detecting  the  unfit  and  elim- 
inating them.  To  set  aside  this  principle,  and  to  carry  the 
other  principle  of  social  aid  to  its  full  conclusions,  we  are 
told,  will  produce  results  that  are  disastrous ;  in  fact,  to 
do  this,  we  are  assured,  will  mean  the  steady  weakening 
and  inevitable  deterioration  of  the  human  race.  Thus  the 
scientist  and  the  sociologist  tell  us  in  solemn  language 
that  the  modern  methods  of  philanthropy  are  a  mistaken 
and  suicidal  policy,  for  they  mean  the  poisoning  of  the 
blood,  and  will  result  in  the  retardation  rather  than  the 


35o 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


acceleration  of  progress.  Thus,  Herbert  Spencer  finds 
fault  with  modern  governmental  and  social  organizations 
on  the  ground  that  they  are  interfering  with  the  beneficial 
operation  of  the  universal  law  of  natural  selection.  "  In- 
convenience, suffering,  and  death  are  the  penalties  at- 
tached by  nature  to  ignorance,  as  well  as  incompetence — 
are  also  means  of  remedying  these.  Partly  by  breeding 
out  those  of  lowest  development,  and  partly  by  subjecting 
those  who  remain  to  the  never-ceasing  discipline  of  ex- 
perience, nature  secures  the  growth  of  a  race  who  shall 
both  understand  the  conditions  of  existence,  and  be  able 
to  act  up  to  them.  It  is  best  to  let  the  foolish  man  suffer 
the  penalty  of  his  foolishness.  .  .  A  sad  population  of 
imbeciles  would  our  schemers  fill  the  world  with  could 
their  plans  last.  Why,  the  whole  effort  of  nature  is  to 
get  rid  of  such — to  clear  the  world  of  them  and  make 
room  for  better "  ("  Social  Statics.  Sanitary  Supervi- 
sion"). "Will  any  one  contend  that  no  mischief  will 
result,"  he  asks,  "  if  the  lowly  endowed  are  enabled  to 
thrive  and  multiply  as  much  as,  or  more  than,  the  highly 
endowed  ?  "  To  the  same  purport  speaks  the  sociologist. 
Thus  Prof.  E.  A.  Ross  says,  "  The  shortest  way  to  make 
this  world  a  heaven  is  to  let  those  so  inclined  hurry  hell- 
ward  at  their  own  pace."  Hence  he  deduces  the  social 
canon :  "  Social  interference  should  not  be  so  paternal 
as  to  check  the  self-extinction  of  the  morally  ill-consti- 
tuted "  (Ross,  "Social  Control,"  p.  425).  He  maintains 
that  many  of  our  so-called  charitable  and  philanthropic 
efforts  and  methods  are  simply  preserving  the  unfit,  and 
are  thus  poisoning  the  blood  of  the  race. 

It  is  easy,  of  course,  for  one  to  grow  piously  indignant 
and  to  denounce  all  this  as  brutal  indifference  and  scien- 
tific hard-heartedness.  But  none  the  less  there  is  here  a 
grave  danger,  one  that  must  be  recognized  and  avoided, 
or  the  race  will  pay  the  forfeit.    The  universe  sets  a 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE 


351 


premium  upon  efficiency  and  fitness,  and  any  method  that 
enables  the  unfit  and  defective  to  survive  and  perpetuate 
their  kind  is  a  gross  and  fatal  violation  of  the  order  of 
things.  Modern  society,  however,  being  more  and  more 
motived  by  the  spirit  of  Christ,  will  never  again  allow 
the  defective  and  unfit  to  live  uncared  for  and  to  die  un- 
pitied.  In  fact,  as  time  goes  on,  the  Christian  spirit  will 
more  and  more  summon  to  its  aid  scientific  knowledge  to 
keep  the  weakest  and  unfittest  from  perishing  in  the 
struggle.  And  modern  society,  having  an  intelligent 
concern  for  its  own  interests,  will  not  be  willing  to  allow 
the  unfit  and  defective  to  survive  and  perpetuate  their 
kind  to  the  disadvantage  and  detriment  of  the  race.  Is 
there  any  way  out  of  this  dilemma?  Or  must  the  Chris- 
tian spirit  and  the  scientific  mind  work  at  cross  purposes? 
This,  at  least,  states  one  of  the  most  puzzling  problems 
of  modern  society — the  problem  of  the  unfit. 

Modern  society  motived  by  the  Christian  spirit  must 
declare  that  there  shall  be  no  unfit  and  defective  members  | 
in  the  State.  This  means  several  things  that  are  worth 
a  moment's  consideration.  For  one  thing,  it  means  that 
modern  society  must  put  all  its  resources  in  pledge  in  be- 
half of  the  weakest  and  least  promising  member,  that  he 
may  be  lifted  up  into  strength  and  fitness.  Modern  sci- 
ence and  Christian  philanthropy  must  direct  their  energies 
toward  the  creation  of  conditions  that  will  prevent  the 
making  of  the  unfit  and  defective.  The  unfit  must  not 
be  allowed  to  remain  the  unfit,  but  must  be  transformed 
into  the  fit.  The  science  of  medicine  and  the  practice  of 
charity  have  put  into  our  hands  certain  systems  of  moral 
splints  and  braces,  certain  remedies  and  appliances,  which 
enable  us  to  keep  the  unfit  and  defective  alive.  The 
Christian  spirit  is  here,  and  is  becoming  the  moving  power 
in  men's  lives ;  they  hold  in  their  hands  a  vast  system  of 
prophylactic  and  moral  remedies  and  braces ;  the  scien- 


352 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


tific  and  sociological  spirit  must  show  society  what  to 
do  in  order  to  provide  for  its  future  welfare;  and  society 
itself  must  then  put  its  resources  in  pledge  in  behalf  of 
the  proposition  that  there  shall  be  no  unfit.  This  is  a 
great  undertaking,  and  it  may  require  long  generations 
for  man  to  reach  the  goal.  But  this  is  a  task  that  society 
must  undertake  in  a  brave  and  hopeful  spirit,  in  the  con- 
viction that  though  everything  may  not  be  done  at  once, 
something  may  be  done  that  will  bring  it  nearer  the  goal. 
It  is  worth  something  to  know  the  problem  before  us ; 
and  we  have  gained  much  when  we  know  the  direction 
of  true  progress.1 

VI.  The  Social  Problem.  In  human  progress  some 
political  problems  have  been  solved  and  their  solution  has 
been  formulated  in  written  constitutions.  In  the  mean- 
time, however,  other  problems  have  come  to  the  front 
and  are  now  clamoring  for  solution.  Progress  may  mean 
the  solution  of  problems,  but  progress  no  less  means  the 
multiplication  of  problems.  Three  generations  ago  De 
Tocqueville  declared  that  the  problems  before  men  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  political ;  then, 
with  remarkable  prescience,  he  foretold  that  the  problems 
at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  would  be 
social.  And  this  prophecy  suggests  the  sphinx  riddle  that 
is  now  propounded  to  men  and  must  be  solved  by  society. 
We  cannot  pass  this  social  problem  by,  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  vitally  related  to  the  very  existence  of  democracy 
and  the  honor  of  Christianity.  Those  who  are  interested 
in  this  problem  will  consult  the  careful  studies  that  have 
been  made  by  John  Hobson  in  "  The  Social  Problem," 
and  Lester  F.  Ward,  in  his  various  books ;  by  Robert 
Hunter,  in  "  Poverty,"  and  John  Graham  Brooks,  in  "  The 


1  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  this  problem,  with  the  suggestion  of  some  remedies,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  an  article,  "The  Redemption  of  the  Unfit,"  in  "The  American 
Journal  of  Sociology,"  September,  1908. 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  353 

Social  Unrest";  by  Prof.  R.  T.  Ely  and  Prof.  William 
Graham ;  by  my  friend  Prof.  Walter  Rauschenbusch,  in 
"  Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis  " ;  by  Prof.  Francis  G. 
Peabody,  in  his  two  noteworthy  studies,  and  by  innumer- 
able other  workers  in  this  special  field.  And  whether  one 
is  a  socialist  or  not,  he  should  not  neglect  such  men  as 
Karl  Marx,  in  his  great  work,  "  Capital  " ;  or  Blatchford, 
in  his  suggestive  plea  "  Merrie  England  " ;  or  Loria,  in 
"  Economic  Foundations  of  Society  " ;  or  Labriola,  in 
"  Materialistic  Conception  of  History " ;  or  Henry 
George,  in  "  Progress  and  Poverty,"  and  his  other  books ; 
or  Benjamin  Kidd,  in  "  Social  Evolution  "  and  "  Western 
Civilization."  In  fact,  it  seems  almost  invidious  to  name 
any  special  students  in  this  field  when  there  are  so  many 
earnest  workers.  Several  factors  enter  into  this  problem 
and  make  at  once  its  difficulty  and  its  urgency. 

1.  In  the  more  advanced  Western  nations  political 
democracy  has  been  gained  and  the  people  have  become 
sovereign.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  chapter  on  the 
unfinished  tasks  of  democracy,  this  has  not  by  any  means 
Lrought  the  people  either  liberty  or  contentment.  In 
fact,  the  free  citizen  in  the  political  State  finds  himself 
under  bonds  that  are  most  irksome  and  galling.  He  finds 
that  while  in  certain  realms  and  relations  his  rights  are 
defined  and  safeguarded,  yet  in  other  realms  and  relations 
they  are  wholly  undefined  and  gross  injustice  is  done.  He 
may  vote  as  a  free  citizen,  but  he  is  taxed  without  any 
representation,  and  government  is  without  his  consent. 
He  may  exercise  his  fraction  of  sovereignty  in  the  po- 
litical State,  but  he  discovers  that  he  is  rated  as  a  "  hand  " 
in  an  industrial  class  and  has  little  real  initiative  in  life. 
It  is  vain,  as  De  Laveleye  has  said,  to  call  the  tramp  of 
the  street  a  sovereign  when  he  is  a  proletarian.  It  is  vain, 
as  any  one  can  see,  to  glorify  one's  political  privileges  so 
long  as  he  has  no  social  opportunity.  "  Liberty,"  said 
x 


354 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Carlyle,  "  I  am  told,  is  a  divine  thing.  Liberty,  when  it 
becomes  the  liberty  to  die  by  starvation,  is  not  so  divine." 

2.  Again,  in  the  most  advanced  lands  of  the  Western 
world  there  has  been  a  remarkable  increase  of  material 
wealth.  And  this  wealth,  it  may  be  said,  is  of  various 
kinds,  and  includes  practically  all  of  the  means  of  man's 
physical  and  intellectual  life.  The  nineteenth  century 
solved  one  problem  at  least — the  problem  how  to  create 
the  most  wealth  in  the  least  time.  Machinery  has  multi- 
plied man's  productive  power  many  fold,  and  has  cor- 
respondingly multiplied  the  commodities  at  his  disposal. 
Indeed,  machinery  answereth  almost  all  things,  and  at 
best  man's  labor  is  the  superintendence  of  a  machine. 

But  what  is  the  result  of  it  all,  we  may  ask?  Is  the 
struggle  of  life  less  keen  and  wasteful  than  in  the  bad 
times  of  old  ?  Is  man,  liberated  from  the  toil  and  moil  of 
life,  now  learning  how  to  live  the  glad,  free  life  of  the 
spirit,  and  to  rejoice  as  the  emancipated  citizen  of  the 
kingdom?  In  his  day  John  Stuart  Mill  declared  that  it 
was  an  open  question  whether  machinery  had  really 
lightened  the  burden  of  a  single  human  being.  In  our 
times  many  things  indicate  that  the  increase  of  machinery 
is  begetting  a  new  slavery  and  is  weighting  man's  load. 
Man  is  becoming  the  slave  of  the  machine,  and  his  work 
is  more  exhausting  than  ever.  The  machine  may  have 
been  intended  to  serve  mankind  and  to  lighten  its  load,  but 
it  is  enslaving  the  man  and  is  tightening  his  chain.  In 
fiction  the  inventor  created  his  Frankenstein,  a  great 
creature  in  the  semblance  of  a  man,  but  without  brain 
or  soul,  and  only  to  be  destroyed  at  last  by  the  monster 
he  had  made.  The  fiction  of  the  novelist,  we  are  gravely 
told,  is  becoming  the  reality  of  our  civilization. 

3.  And  once  more,  in  these  Western  lands,  the  home  of 
democracy,  we  find  that  humanity  has  come  into  a 
marvelous  heritage  of  knowledge  and  wealth.    And  this 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  355 

social  heritage,  which  represents  the  common  toil  of  the 
fathers,  is  the  common  heritage  of  the  children.  In  the 
wisdom  and  beneficence  of  G<jd  abundant  provision  has 
been  made  for  all  the  needs  of  men,  and  there  is  plenty  and 
to  spare  in  the  Father's  house.  It  is  only  in  recent  times 
that  man  has  begun  to  appraise  the  extent  of  this  pro- 
vision, but  every  year  he  is  discovering  ever  new  stores 
of  wealth,  and  is  tapping  ever  fresh  reservoirs  of  power. 
But  a  few  men  have  gained  control  of  these  natural 
resources,  and  are  now  exploiting  them  for  their  own 
advantage.  They  claim  exclusive  access  to  these  re- 
sources, and  other  men  who  would  enjoy  these  must  ob- 
tain their  permission  and  pay  them  tribute.  From  one 
cause  and  another,  through  neglect  or  inattention, 
through  bad  management  or  gross  fraud,  this  social 
heritage  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  few 
privileged  persons,  and  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  have  but  a  secondary  share  in  the  social  inherit- 
ance. And,  as  the  corollary  of  this,  we  find  that  "  a 
large  proportion  of  the  population  in  the  prevailing 
state  of  society  take  part  in  the  rivalry  of  life  only  under 
conditions  which  absolutely  preclude  them,  whatever  their 
natural  merit  or  ability,  from  any  real  chance  therein. 
They  come  into  the  world  to  find  the  best  positions  not 
only  already  filled,  but  practically  occupied  in  perpetuity. 
For,  under  the  great  body  of  rights  which  wealth  has  in- 
herited from  feudalism,  we,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
allow  the  wealthy  classes  to  retain  the  control  of  these 
positions  for  generation  after  generation,  to  the  perma- 
nent exclusion  of  the  rest  of  the  people  "  (Kidd,  "  Social 
Evolution,"  p.  232). 

It  is  easy,  of  course,  for  one  who  is  so  inclined,  to  say 
that  this  is  such  a  gross  exaggeration  of  the  social  situation 
as  to  amount  to  a  positive  caricature.  But  this  is  the  con- 
firmed conviction  of  such  brave  thinkers  and  careful 


356 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


sociologists  as  Ruskin  and  Mazzini,  Ward  and  Kidd.  And 
it  is  easy  also  for  one  who  is  so  inclined,  to  say  that  those 
who  have  no  heritage  and#  portion  in  society  have  them- 
selves to  blame,  while  those  who  possess  so  much  of 
wealth  and  privilege  have  themselves  to  thank.  But  we 
may  note  that  many  of  those  who  control  these  resources 
have  gained  this  control  through  methods  that  are  neither 
wholly  fair  nor  socially  just.  In  any  fair  and  just  society 
there  should  be  some  proportion  between  service  and  re- 
ward, but  in  modern  society  this  proportion  is  not  always 
maintained  (Ward,  "  Psychic  Factors  of  Civilization," 
p.  321).  In  his  day  John  Stuart  Mill  declared  that  in 
such  a  society  as  the  present  the  very  idea  of  justice, 
or  any  proportionality  between  success  and  merit,  or 
between  success  and  exertion,  is  "  so  chimerical  as  to  be 
relegated  to  the  region  of  romance." 

4.  And  this  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  problem  of 
modern  democracy,  called  by  way  of  preeminence  the  so- 
cial problem.  This  problem  is  the  problem  of  social  wel- 
fare ;  the  problem  how  to  bring  greater  happiness  and 
larger  possibility  to  all  men ;  the  problem  how  to  equalize 
opportunity  and  thus  enable  each  life  to  realize  its  highest 
capabilities ;  the  problem  how  to  bring  the  disinherited 
into  the  Father's  family  and  to  give  them  a  fair  inherit- 
ance in  society.  In  any  enduring  commonwealth  each 
man  has  his  place  and  his  work,  and  no  commonwealth  is 
either  democratic  or  Christian  till  this  man  has  found  that 
place  and  is  doing  that  work.  The  social  problem  is  how 
to  use  the  resources  of  society  in  promoting  the  whole 
life  of  the  whole  people,  and  thus  enabling  the  laggards  to 
march  with  the  main  army.  Of  all  the  problems  of  the 
modern  man,  the  one  which  towers  above  all  others,  is 
the  problem  of  the  organization  of  society,  so  that  the 
heritage  of  the  past  shall  be  transmitted  to  all  its  members 
alike  (Ward,  "Applied  Sociology,"  p.  96).    Stated  in 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  357 

different  terms,  the  problem  manifestly  is  how  to  secure 
to  the  members  of  society  the  maximum  power  of  exei- 
cising  their  natural  faculties  (Ward,  ibid,  p.  25,  26).  It  is 
too  early  in  the  day  for  any  one  to  forecast  the  future  and 
to  indicate  the  measures  that  must  be  taken  to  ensure  this 
result.  But  Mazzini  spoke  with  his  usual  insight  when  he 
said :  "  I  think  that  our  problem  is  not  so  much  to  define 
the  forms  of  future  progress  as  to  place  the  individual 
under  such  conditions  as  make  it  easy  for  him  to  under- 
stand and  fulfil  it"  ("Life,"  by  King,  p.  289). 

The  great  problem  of  to-day  is  this  social  problem.  The 
problem  of  to-day  is  not  primarily  a  personal  problem, 
and  it  is  not  distinctively  a  political  problem.  It  is  not 
how  to  make  good  individuals,  for  in  a  way  this  has  been 
achieved;  the  problem  now  is  to  associate  these  good 
individuals  and  make  a  good  society.  The  problem  of 
to-day  is  not  distinctively  political,  for  political  liberty  and 
democracy  have  been  won  in  these  Western  lands,  and 
government  of  the  people  and  by  the  people  is  approxi- 
mately a  fact ;  the  problem  now  is  to  build  a  better  society 
in  which  industrial  democracy  shall  be  a  reality  and  men 
shall  have  a  fair  opportunity  in  life.  The  whole  question 
how  men  shall  live  together  in  equality  and  peace  and  share 
in  the  common  inheritance  of  society,  is  up  for  discus- 
sion, and  upon  the  answer  to  this  question  depends  the 
progress  of  mankind  and  the  success  and  permanence  of 
democratic  government. 

Growing  out  of  what  has  been  said  are  several  very 
important  conclusions. 

First,  modern  society  must  face  these  problems  and 
must  then  set  about  their  solution.  The  time  has  gone  by 
when  men  can  put  on  blinders  and  refuse  to  see;  and 
the  time  has  gone  by  also  when  discontent  can  be  quieted 
by  the  policeman's  club.  The  people  have  begun  to  think, 
and  they  are  coming  to  self-consciousness.   And  so  they 


358 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


are  questioning  old  formulas  and  are  searching  for 
social  justice.  The  people  will  insist  that  every  question 
be  brought  out  into  the  light  and  they  will  demand  that 
it  be  tried  by  the  standards  of  public  welfare.  No 
thought  is  safe  which  would  keep  thought  out.  No  ques- 
tion is  settled  till  it  is  settled  right.  It  is  vain,  therefore, 
to  cry  peace,  peace,  and  seek  in  this  way  to  allay  dis- 
content. It  is  folly  to  cover  up  the  wounds  of  society 
and  refuse  to  admit  that  society  is  afflicted.  We  never 
can  have  peace  in  society  till  we  first  have  righteousness. 
We  never  can  have  a  healthy  body  so  long  as  there  are 
poisonous  sores  beneath  the  surface. 

Again,  there  may  be  problems  in  modern  society,  but 
there  are  no  isolated  reforms.  The  world  is  full  of  men 
who  are  specialists  in  reform  as  well  as  in  medicine.  This 
is  necessary,  perhaps,  to  a  certain  degree,  but  specialism 
may  easily  be  carried  too  far  and  become  too  exclusive. 
We  find  that  in  our  modern  world  men  divide  up  into 
little  groups  and  schools,  each  studying  some  one  prob- 
lem and  each  advocating  some  one  reform.  This  is  neces- 
sary, perhaps,  for  some  of  these  problems  need  special 
study  and  emphasis.  But  society  is  a  unit  and  organic ; 
one  thing  is  as  it  is  because  all  other  things  are  as  they 
are.  It  may  be  necessary  to  have  special  schools  of  special 
reform,  such  as  the  single  tax  and  prohibition,  direct 
legislation,  and  State  socialism ;  but  it  is  necessary  also  to 
remember  that  no  one  of  these  schemes  of  reform  holds 
the  key  to  the  millennium.  The  frank  admission  of  this 
fact  would  make  superfluous  a  vast  amount  of  moving 
rhetoric,  but  it  would  also  make  necessary  a  more  organic 
scheme  of  progress.  Society  is  a  unit  and  our  reforms 
must  be  unified.  No  isolated  scheme  can  be  a  good 
scheme.  Real  progress  must  be  advanced  all  along 
the  line.  Those  who  see  only  one  thing  can  never 
see  that  truly,  and  so  they  work  in  a  superficial  and 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  359 

mistaken  manner.  Idealism  ought  to  be  organic;  that  is 
to  say,  each  particular  ideal  ought  to  be  formed  and  pur- 
sued in  subordination  to  a  system  of  ideals,  based  on 
knowledge  and  good  sense  (Cooley,  "The  American 
Journal  of  Sociology,"  March,  1907). 

And  thirdly,  society  must  face  its  problems  in  the  con- 
fidence that  there  are  no  insoluble  problems.  Man  is 
here  under  God  to  work  out  his  destiny,  and  he  is  com- 
missioned to  rule  the  earth  and  subdue  it  to  his  purposes. 
He  is  called  in  the  providence  of  God  to  build  in  the  earth 
a  city  of  God.  There  are  no  necessary  evils.  There  are 
no  insoluble  problems.  Whatever  is  wrong  cannot  be 
eternal,  and  whatever  is  right  cannot  be  impossible. 

Every  problem  is  an  opportunity.  The  clear  statement 
of  a  problem  is  one-half  of  its  solution ;  at  any  rate,  there 
can  be  no  solution  of  an  unclear  problem.  Some  of  these 
modern  problems  are  before  us,  and  they  must  be  faced 
by  the  modern  Christian  who  believes  in  democracy.  In 
their  study  and  solution  man  will  prove  at  once  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  faith  and  the  strength  of  his  virtue.  Modern 
society  is  confronted  with  more  real  and  more  urgent 
problems  than  was  ancient  society ;  and  this  means  that 
the  modern  man  has  more  real  and  more  practical  ways 
than  the  ancient  man  of  proving  his  faith  and  hope  and 
love  and  wisdom. 


XIV 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY 

IT  is  the  constant  and  characteristic  quality  of  life  to 
become  organic.  It  is  the  steady  and  supreme  effort 
of  life  to  create  around  itself  a  body  in  which  it  shall 
realize  its  type,  and  through  which  it  shall  express  its 
power.  It  follows,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  the  quality 
of  the  life  will  determine  the  form  of  the  organization ; 
and  it  is  almost  a  tautology  to  say  that  the  method  of 
the  organization  will  reveal  the  quality  of  the  life  both  in 
itself  and  its  relations. 

The  State  is  the  people  organized  in  a  political  capacity 
to  promote  the  welfare  of  all  its  members.  Democracy 
is  the  confession  in  social  and  political  relations  of  the 
highest  faith  of  a  people.  In  the  Christian  conception  of 
things  we  have  the  ideal  of  a  human  society  on  earth,  a 
kingdom  of  God  that  has  become  the  kingdom  of  man. 
Since  this  is  so,  there  are  certain  great  aims  that  a  Chris- 
tian and  democratic  people  must  set  before  themselves ; 
there  are  certain  definite  tasks  to  which  a  democratic  and 
Christian  society  is  fully  committed.  In  the  last  chapter 
we  shall  consider  the  nature  of  the  Christian  State,  and 
we  may  postpone  for  the  present  some  of  the  objections 
that  are  brought  against  this  whole  conception.  Without 
forestalling  the  argument  of  that  chapter  we  may  here 
concern  ourselves  with  those  aims  that  are  implied  in 
the  Christian  conception  of  the  State ;  that  is,  we  may 
limit  ourselves  to  those  tasks  which  are  involved  in  these 
converging  lines  of  thought.  In  a  word,  we  are  concerned 
with  that  programme  which  men  with  the  Christian  spirit. 
360 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  361 

believing  in  the  great  principles  of  democracy,  will  seek 
in  and  through  the  political  State. 

In  view  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  in  view  of  the  ideal 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  and  the  relation  of  the 
State  to  the  welfare  of  man,  it  is  necessary  that  we  have 
some  definite  conception  of  the  ideal  to  be  realized  in  and 
sthrough  the  State  and  some  knowledge  of  the  steps  that 
must  be  taken  in  the  realization  of  that  ideal.  In  ancient 
and  modern  times  alike  there  has  been  little  vision  of  the 
great  goal  of  the  State,  and  so  there  has  been  little  united 
effort  to  realize  a  large  and  comprehensive  programme. 
There  has  been  progress,  but  it  has  been  more  or  less  hap- 
hazard and  accidental.  Men  have  corrected  great  abuses 
and  have  made  many  advances,  but  they  have  usually 
been  opportunists  and  politicians,  working  only  for  some 
local  and  partial  good  when  they  might  have  been  seers 
and  statesmen  working  for  great  and  far-reaching  ends. 
In  ancient  and  modern  times  alike  there  have  been  some 
great  and  prophetic  souls  who  have  had  visions  and 
dreamed  dreams,  men  who  were  pioneers  and  pathfinders, 
showing  humanity  the  way  and  helping  the  world  toward 
its  goal ;  and  their  influence  upon  their  generation  and 
people  cannot  be  measured  by  any  mete-wand.  And  yet, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  the  number  of  such  souls  is 
pitifully  small ;  and  worse  than  all,  they  have  usually 
shared  the  untoward  fate  of  all  prophets  and  pioneers. 

This  is  not  all ;  but  the  men  of  to-day,  the  men  upon 
whom  the  ends  of  the  ages  are  come,  cannot  show  much 
advantage  over  the  men  of  yesterday.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  and  yet  saddening  inquiries  to-day  is  a  careful 
study  of  the  platforms  and  policies  of  the  great  political 
parties,  whether  in  Great  Britain  or  the  United  States. 
In  these  platforms  much  is  said  about  liberty  and  prog- 
ress, about  free  trade  and  protection ;  in  these  pronounce- 
ments there  are  many  paragraphs  in  denunciation  of  the 


362 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


follies  and  failures  of  the  opposition  party,  with  many 
appeals  to  the  people  to  support  a  particular  platform. 
But  one  will  read  these  platforms  in  vain  for  any  con- 
structive ideal ;  not  one  word  will  he  find  which  indicates 
the  true  direction  of  human  progress ;  in  fact,  he  will  scan 
them  in  vain  for  any  comprehensive  conception  of  what 
human  progress  means.  So  also  one  may  listen  to  the 
great  political  leaders  who  are  much  in  the  public  eye  and 
solicit  the  people's  suffrage.  But  he  will  listen  in  vain  to 
their  orations  for  any  great  words  of  light  and  leading; 
he  will  vainly  watch  for  the  words  which  shall  point  out 
the  way  of  human  advance ;  and  at  last  he  will  turn  away 
without  having  learned  one  syllable  about  the  real  mission 
of  the  State  and  the  whole  progress  of  man.  He  will  find 
that  there  is  no  clear  vision  of  the  goal  or  any  definite 
understanding  of  the  way  to  the  goal.  He  will  find  that 
there  is  no  great  ideal  before  men  which  shall  include 
and  explain  all  lower  ideals ;  there  is  no  social  synthesis 
that  can  marshal  the  people  as  one  army  and  send  them 
forth  to  do  battle  with  the  ills  of  life,  and  to  seek  the 
perfection  of  society. 

In  view  of  all  this,  the  time  has  come,  we  must  believe, 
for  men  to  consider  well  the  great  goal  of  the  social 
State  and  then  to  define  some  of  the  steps  that  lead  to  it. 
The  time  has  come  in  the  progress  of  man  and  the  devel- 
opment of  Christian  thought  to  define  the  ideal  of  human 
society  and  to  formulate  some  programme  of  social 
advance.  The  State  will  fulfil  its  calling  in  the  world 
when  men  have  both  an  idea  of  the  State's  mission  and 
end,  and  a  worthy  and  Christian  programme  of  social  and 
political  action.  It  is  better  to  live  on  the  small  arc  of 
an  infinite  circle  than  to  compass  the  whole  area  of  a  ten- 
foot  circumference. 

It  is  too  early  in  the  day  for  any  one  to  formulate  such 
a  final  programme  of  political  action ;  it  is,  in  fact,  a 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  363 

grave  presumption  for  any  one  age  to  attempt  to  define 
the  task  of  a  later  age.  Hence  every  programme  must 
be  more  or  less  provisional  and  provincial ;  for  the  idea 
and  ideal  of  to-day  must  be  outgrown  to-morrow.  But 
none  the  less  to-day  ought  to  have  its  ideals  and  policies, 
for  only  in  this  way  can  the  larger  to-morrow  be  realized. 
We  do  not  want  a  hard  and  fast  programme  with  all  its 
items  fully  defined ;  but  we  must  have  some  sense  of 
direction  in  social  progress,  and  must  know  some  of  the 
paths  that  lead  to  the  goal.  All  we  can  do  is  to  note  a 
few  of  the  more  marked  items,  with  a  few  suggestions  as 
to  their  scope.  We  rejoice  to  believe  that  every  one  of 
these  aims  is  revealed,  in  germ  at  least,  in  the  best  modern 
States.  But  we  desire  to  see  them  in  their  whole  applica- 
tion become  the  conscious  and  constant  aim  of  all  States. 
And  we  are  not  careful  to  determine  how  far  these  aims 
are  to  be  sought  through  political  action  alone,  and  how 
far  they  are  to  be  realized  through  so-called  spiritual 
agencies.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  State,  at  bottom,  is  a 
spiritual  institution ;  and  spiritual  principles  must  realize 
themselves  at  last  in  political  institutions.  In  this  chapter 
we  shall  suggest  a  few  of  those  aims  which  men  must 
set  before  themselves  if  they  would  be  true  to  the  ideal 
of  Christ  and  would  move  forward  in  the  direction  of  true 
progress. 

I.  The  Steady  Pressure  Against  All  Things  that  are 
Harmful  to  Man  and  Hurtful  in  Society.  According  to 
the  best  interpreters,  it  is  the  work  and  function  of  the 
State  to  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquility, 
provide  for  the  common  defense,  and  promote  the  general 
welfare.  In  the  prophetic  hope  of  Israel  we  have  the  con- 
ception of  a  State  in  which  a  king  reigns  in  righteousness, 
and  where  justice  is  done  throughout  the  land,  a  society 
from  which  all  evil  and  hurtful  things  have  been  cast, 
and  in  which  only  good  things  are  permitted.    In  the 


3^4 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Christian  apocalypse  we  have  the  vision  of  a  Holy  City 
coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  to  be  set  up  on 
earth,  a  city  into  which  nothing  enters  that  defiles,  that 
works  abomination,  or  that  makes  a  lie ;  a  city  from 
which  all  evil  things  have  been  removed  and  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire.  Beneath  all  this  drapery  of  prophecy  and 
apocalypse  there  is  the  definite  and  splendid  vision  of  a 
society  that  hates  the  things  that  are  evil,  and  gives  them 
no  recognized  place  in  its  life.  Beyond  all  the  local  and 
transient  elements  in  these  visions  there  abides  the  con- 
ception of  a  society  that  maintains  a  steady  pressure 
against  the  things  that  are  evil  and  injurious.  Combining 
these  functions  of  the  State  and  these  visions  of  Christian- 
ity, interpreting  the  functions  of  the  State  in  the  light  of 
these  Christian  hopes,  carrying  these  prophetic  visions 
into  the  State  to  guide  its  action,  a  very  definite  result 
follows  and  a  very  plain  duty  is  seen.  We  have  the  con- 
ception of  a  society  that  exerts  a  steady  pressure  against 
all  things  that  are  evil  and  defiling,  a  society  that  makes  a 
collective  effort  to  take  up  all  stumbling-blocks  out  of 
the  way  of  the  people  and  to  cast  up  straight  paths  for 
men's  feet. 

The  State,  in  the  last  analysis,  is  the  institute  of  right 
relations  and  the  conserver  of  human  welfare.  It  is 
called  to  interpret  these  relations  and  to  define  the  things 
that  make  for  social  peace.  It  is  the  one  agency  through 
which  the  people  can  act  in  their  interpretation  of  social 
welfare,  in  their  search  after  righteousness,  and  their 
struggles  in  behalf  of  social  progress.  As  men  become 
more  Christian,  as  they  understand  more  fully  the  higher 
functions  of  the  State,  and  seek  more  consciously  the 
Christian  ideal,  they  will  more  and  more  unite  in  making 
the  State  the  medium  of  their  search  after  righteousness 
and  the  agency  of  their  warfare  against  evil.  As  the 
State  becomes  more  Christian  it  will  exert  a  steady 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  365 

and  increasing  pressure  against  all  things  that  are  evil, 
and  will  maintain  a  steady  purpose  in  behalf  of  virtue. 
Are  there  customs  and  institutions  and  agencies  in  society 
that  are  tempting  and  demoralizing  in  their  tendency? 
Then  the  State  will  exert  a  steady  opposition  to  these 
things,  and  will  seek  to  cast  them  out  of  its  life.  In  so  far 
as  the  State  exerts  this  constant  pressure  against  evil,  and 
makes  this  collective  effort  in  behalf  of  righteousness, 
does  it  possess  the  first  characteristic  of  the  Christian 
State. 

There  are  many  things  that  the  State  can  do  in  this 
direction,  and  in  behalf  of  these  ends.  For  one  thing,  it 
can  define  those  courses  of  conduct  that  are  hurtful  to 
society,  and  thus  can  warn  men  back  into  the  right  way. 
It  can  vindicate  in  the  visible  order  those  high  and  safe 
principles  of  right  and  wrong,  which  are  woven  into  the 
very  texture  of  human  society.  Some  forms  of  evil,  it  is 
possible,  will  continue  for  a  long  time,  and  the  State  may 
never  wholly  suppress  them.  But  none  the  less  it  can 
make  vice  unprofitable  and  crime  hazardous.  It  can  take 
up  the  stumbling-blocks  out  of  the  way  of  the  people,  and 
can  provide  conditions  that  make  a  virtuous  life  possible. 
For  a  long  time  to  come  there  may  be  men  of  evil  will, 
men  who,  for  the  sake  of  their  own  advantage  or  their  own 
pleasure,  will  place  temptation  before  their  brothers,  and 
will  make  profit  out  of  their  fall.  But  when  these  things 
are  done,  wherever  men  are  breaking  human  relations  and 
are  injuring  their  fellows,  the  State — acting  in  behalf  of 
the  common  safety — must  punish  the  offenders  and  must 
break  up  their  man-traps.  It  can  place  under  a  ban  all 
agencies  and  institutions  whose  tendency  is  to  hurt  man 
and  to  demoralize  society,  and  it  can  labor  for  their 
suppression. 

These  are  some  of  the  tasks  that  the  State  cannot  evade 
if  it  would  be  either  human  or  Christian.    Toward  all 


366 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


such  evils  the  attitude  of  the  Stale  must  be  one  of 
unchanging  and  relentless  opposition,  and  with  these 
things  it  can  make  no  terms  and  permit  no  exception. 
For  the  State  to  declare  by  its  legislation  that  a  certain 
institution  is  socially  demoralizing,  and  yet  by  its  action 
to  recognize  that  institution,  is  to  stultify  itself  and 
discount  its  Christian  profession.  In  the  positive  lan- 
guage of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States :  "  No 
legislation  can  barter  away  the  public  health  or  the  public 
morals.  The  people  themselves  cannot  do  it,  much  less 
their  servants.  Government  is  organized  with  a  view 
to  their  preservation,  and  cannot  divest  itself  of  the  power 
to  provide  for  them"  (Stone  vs.  Mississippi,  ioi,  U.  S. 
816).  In  view  of  all  this,  the  charge  that  by  such  State 
action  we  are  attempting  to  legislate  men  into  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  as  inane  as  it  is  pernicious.  That  thinking 
men  should  have  fallen  into  this  blunder  almost  passes 
comprehension.  In  all  this  no  effort  is  made  to  legislate 
men  into  the  kingdom  of  God ;  but  an  effort  is  made  to 
remove  the  obstacles  that  may  keep  men  out  of  that 
kingdom.  The  State  may  not  be  able  to  eliminate  many 
of  the  evils  of  society  for  a  long  time  to  come,  but  it  can 
at  least  maintain  a  steady  pressure  against  them ;  it  can 
create  and  organize  a  sentiment  hostile  to  them,  and  by 
legislation  it  can  declare  that  they  are  illegal  and  wrong ; 
it  can  provide  that  they  never  shall  become  accepted  and 
legitimated  institutions  in  society ;  by  legal  penalties  it 
can  make  their  continuance  hazardous  and  their  practice 
unprofitable ;  in  fine,  by  a  steady  opposition  to  these 
things,  it  may  oppose  them  and  wear  them  down  and 
crowd  them  out.  The  State  can  do  much,  possibly  as 
much  as  the  Church,  to  develop  the  social  conscience  of 
men  and  create  a  presumption  in  favor  of  virtue  and 
morality.  Thus  the  State  that  is  becoming  Christian  will 
exert  a  steady  pressure  against  all  forms  of  social  evil 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  367 

and  will  seek  to  remove  the  stumbling-blocks  out  of  the 
way  of  the  people.   There  are  no  necessary  evils. 

II.  The  Administration  of  Justice  With  a  Saving  Pur- 
pose. In  every  State  we  find  a  large  class  of  persons  who 
constitute  what  is  called  in  an  indefinite  way  the  criminal 
class.  The  presence  of  such  a  class  endangers  the  peace 
of  society,  and  entails  heavy  burdens  upon  the  State ;  for 
the  cost  of  crime  first  and  last  is  one  of  the  heaviest  items 
in  the  State's  budget.  But  passing  the  money  cost  of 
crime,  the  presence  of  such  a  criminal  population  in  the 
modern  State  is  one  of  the  most  perplexing  problems  of 
the  Christian  citizen.  It  discounts  the  power  of  Chris- 
tianity and  casts  reproach  upon  our  Christian  civilization. 
For  this  reason  it  is  becoming  the  cause  of  earnest  heart- 
searching  and  social  inquiry. 

The  aim  of  the  State  which  we  here  consider  has  two 
aspects,  which  in  the  last  analysis  are  reduced  to  one. 
It  defines  all  those  efforts  of  the  State  to  reform  and  save 
offenders  against  its  order;  and  it  implies  also  all  those 
efforts  to  save  men  from  going  wrong  at  all.  The  first 
effort  of  the  State  leads  on  to  the  second,  and  so  the  one 
necessitates  the  other. 

The  history  of  the  world's  treatment  of  its  delinquents 
is  one  of  the  darkest  pages  in  the  volume  of  human  mis- 
deeds. The  time  has  been  when  men  regarded  all  punish- 
ment for  crime  as  a  just  retribution ;  the  wrong-doer  must 
always  be  punished,  and  the  more  severe  and  brutal  the 
punishment  the  better  society  was  pleased  and  the  safer 
men  felt.  No  regard  was  paid  to  the  physical  or  moral 
condition  of  prisoners,  and  no  effort  was  made  to  separate 
the  child  prisoner  from  old  and  hardened  criminals.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  were  in 
England  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  capital  offenses, 
and  some  of  these  were  of  the  most  trivial  nature.  At 
that  time  a  judge  could  avow  from  the  bench  his  belief 


368 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


that  there  was  no  hope  of  regenerating  a  felon  in  this  life ; 
and  as  his  continued  existence  would  only  diffuse  a  cor- 
rupting influence  upon  others,  it  was  hence  better  for  his 
own  sake,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  society,  that  he 
should  be  hanged  as  speedily  as  possible  (Mackenzie, 
"Nineteenth  Cent."  Bk.  II,  chap.  i). 

But  a  new  spirit  has  arisen  in  these  later  times,  and 
has  wrought  a  great  change.  This  new  spirit,  which  is 
at  once  Christian  and  scientific,  is  beginning  to  affect 
men's  social  and  political  life,  and  is  working  a  complete 
revolution  in  their  conception  of  crime  and  punishment. 
It  has  become  very  plain,  for  one  thing,  that  the  criminal 
is  very  much  like  the  rest  of  his  fellows,  with  practically 
the  same  inclinations  and  instincts  as  all  normal  persons, 
but  who  yet,  from  one  cause  and  another,  has  allowed  some 
of  these  instincts  and  impulses  to  develop  in  an  exagger- 
ated degree.  In  almost  all  persons  there  are  tendencies 
and  impulses  which,  if  nourished  by  environment  and  un- 
restrained by  society,  will  make  criminals  of  the  best  of 
men.  And  it  has  also  become  plain  that  society  is  im- 
plicated in  the  crime  of  every  criminal,  and  the  existence 
of  a  criminal  class  is  an  indictment,  not  of  that  class 
specially,  but  of  society  at  large.  Thus  "  Every  time  a 
man  enters  the  dock  society  enters  with  him,  as  particeps 
criminis"  (Brierley,  "Religion  and  Experience,"  p.  83). 
And  thus  there  is  "  a  pregnant  truth  in  the  saying  that 
every  society  has  just  the  kind  and  number  of  criminals 
that  it  deserves"  (G.  Stanley  Hall,  "Adolescence,"  Vol. 
I,  P-  34i)- 

In  the  light  of  this  new  Christian  and  scientific  spirit 
which  is  beginning  to  pervade  society,  men  are  beginning 
to  take  up  a  different  attitude  toward  the  wrong-doer 
and  criminal.  They  are  coming  to  see  that  human  nature 
in  its  essence  is  a  pretty  constant  quality,  and  the  differ- 
ences in  men  are  due  rather  to  accidental  causes  than  to 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  369 

inherent  qualities.  "  Human  nature  in  its  worst  criminal 
forms  is  simply  good  stuff  badly  handled"  (Brierley, 
ibid.,  p.  79).  Men  are  coming  to  believe  that  the  making 
of  criminals  is  wholly  needless  and  the  reformation  of 
criminals  is  not  impossible.  These  two  things  we  now 
see  go  together,  and  each  implies  the  other.  This  new 
spirit  may  be  expressed  in  a  few  propositions  somewhat 
as  follows:  The  purpose  of  all  punishment  is  the  pro- 
tection of  society  and  the  reformation  of  the  wrong-doer. 
Reformation  is  possible,  and  wisdom  and  love  can  work 
wonders.  The  society  that  is  under  obligation  to  punish 
and  restrain  the  criminal  is  under  obligation  to  remove 
the  causes  that  make  the  criminal.  Crime  has  causes, 
and  crime  may  be  prevented  by  the  cure  of  its  causes. 

It  must  be  confessed  with  sadness  that  this  Christian 
conception  of  crime  and  punishment  has  made  its  way 
very  slowly  in  the  minds  of  men,  and  has  come  very 
late  into  social  action.  But  be  its  progress  slow  or  rapid, 
this  Christian  conception  is  making  its  way  in  the  minds 
of  men,  and  is  working  a  complete  revolution  in  their 
social  methods  and  their  criminal  systems.  This  concep- 
tion, it  may  be  said,  "  logically  involves  the  upheaval  and 
subversion  of  the  entire  structure  of  criminal  law  as  it  has 
stood  from  time  immemorial.  .  .  All  the  penal  codes  with 
their  elaborate  system  of  graduated  penalties  .  .  .  this  new 
method  of  procedure  sweeps  away  as  utter  rubbish ;  it 
repudiates  as  false  and  indefensible  the  very  foundations 
on  which  all  criminal  laws  have  been  built ;  it  substitutes 
a  new  corner-stone,  that  of  protection  of  the  public  and 
reformation  of  the  criminal,  in  place  of  vindictive  retri- 
bution and  expiation  through  punitive  suffering;  and 
upon  the  new  foundation  it  would  erect  a  radically  new 
superstructure  of  criminal  law.  It  logically  reverses  the 
attitude  of  the  State  toward  the  criminal ;  formerly  the 
State  presented  itself  to  the  criminal  as  an  avenging  fury, 

Y 


37° 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


seizing  him  only  to  inflict  suffering  upon  him ;  and  when  it 
had  wreaked  its  vengeance,  casting  him  out  with  threat- 
enings  for  the  future ;  the  new  system  represents  the 
State  to  the  criminal  as  a  kindly  parental  power,  seeking 
to  uplift  and  rehabilitate  him,  aiming  to  fit  him  for  res- 
toration to  freedom,  and  finally  to  send  him  forth  with  a 
helping  hand."  Thus  the  revolution  in  criminal  law 
implied  in  this  new  conception  of  things  is  no  less  mo- 
mentous "  than  the  change  wrought  in  astronomy  by  the 
Copernican  system,  which  stopped  the  sun  and  stars  in 
their  absurd  circuit  about  the  stationary  earth  and  set  the 
world  in  motion"  (Eugene  Smith,  in  "Boies  Memorial 
Volume").  Punishment,  it  is  now  seen,  that  is  not 
reformatory,  is  mischievous  to  society  and  diabolical  in 
principle.  Penalty  that  is  reformatory  is  Christian  in 
spirit  and  beneficent  in  results. 

And  this  conception  necessarily  implies  a  complete 
redistribution  of  blame  for  the  criminal,  and  a  new  line  of 
approach  toward  him.  "  It  was  the  old  view  that  crime 
is  a  constant  factor  in  society,  resulting  from  natural 
depravity  or  from  persistent  personal  causes.  It  is 
the  new  view  that  political,  economic,  and  social  institu- 
tions, and  especially  the  prevailing  method  of  administer- 
ing justice  and  the  penal  system,  have  much  to  do  with 
the  amount  and  kind  of  crime"  (Edward  T.  Devine,  in 
"  Commons,"  April  20,  1907).  It  was  the  old  view  that 
we  should  try  to  suppress  crime  and  vice ;  it  is  the  new 
view  that  we  should  release  virtues.  It  was  the  old  view 
that  the  depraved  man  is  the  natural  man ;  that  the  causes 
of  crime  are  wholly  beyond  the  reach  of  man  or  society ; 
and  little  can  be  done  either  to  keep  men  from  going 
wrong  or  to  save  them  when  down.  It  is  the  new  view 
that  the  depraved  man  is  not  the  natural  man,  that  crime 
has  causes  which  are  almost  wholly  within  the  control  of 
society,  and  that  the  criminal  is  yet  a  man  who,  under 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  37I 

wise  and  Christian  treatment,  may  be  cured  of  his  lapse 
and  restored  to  his  place. 

Thus,  as  the  State  becomes  Christian,  it  will  put  forth 
a  steady  effort  to  change  the  conditions  of  life  and  to 
remove  the  young  from  all  hurtful  and  demoralizing  in- 
fluences. It  will  administer  justice,  not  alone  to  save 
those  who  have  gone  wrong,  but  it  will  also  labor  to  save 
them  from  going  wrong  at  all.  Thus  more  and  more  the 
resources  and  authority  of  the  State  will  be  used  in 
creating  conditions  that  promote  virtue  and  make  for 
uprightness.  As  the  State  becomes  more  Christian  it  will 
see  more  clearly  its  relation  to  the  family  and  the  church, 
and  it  will  co-operate  with  these  more  fully  and  sympa- 
thetically, that  thus  better  sentiments  may  be  created  in 
society  and  higher  standards  set  up  in  the  State.  Along 
with  this  there  will  be  a  steady  effort  to  effect  the  refor- 
mation of  the  wrong-doer  and  to  restore  him  to  his  nor- 
mal place  in  society.  To  this  end  the  State  will  more  and 
more  substitute  reformatories  for  prisons,  indeterminate 
for  fixed  sentences,  probation  and  suspended  sentence 
for  imprisonment  for  first  offenses,  and  more  than  all 
juvenile  courts  for  police  courts  and  penitentiaries.  The 
time  is  coming  when  less  and  less  attention  will  be  given 
to  the  building  of  jails,  and  more  and  more  study  will  be 
given  to  the  prevention  of  crime.  The  time  is  coming 
when  the  presence  of  penitentiaries  in  a  State  will-  be  a 
confession  to  the  world  that  society  is  unchristian  in  its 
spirit  and  unwise  in  its  methods  of  dealing  with  men. 
The  State  that  is  becoming  Christian  will  seek  to  admin- 
ister justice  with  a  saving  purpose,  and  with  a  constant 
effort  to  prevent  crime,  rather  than  to  punish  it. 

III.  The  Continuous  and  Collective  Determination  to 
Maintain  Justice  Throughout  Society.  At  first  sight  this 
aim  of  the  State  seems  commonplace  enough,  and  one  is 
likely  to  be  met  with  the  remark  that  this  has  been  the 


372 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


aim  of  every  State  from  the  first.  In  a  sense  this  is  true, 
and  no  one  acquainted  with  history  will  care  to  minimize 
this  characteristic  of  society.  But  the  more  carefully  one 
observes  the  action  of  political  States  the  more  evident 
it  becomes  that  justice  is  both  imperfectly  understood  and 
applied.  Justice,  it  may  be  said,  is  like  the  kingdom  of 
God,  which,  while  it  is  always  here,  is  yet  always  to  come. 
Two  things  as  to  this  question  may  be  kept  in  mind : 

For  one  thing,  the  political  machinery  of  the  State, 
from  time  immemorial,  has  been  in  the  hands  of  a  political 
aristocracy,  and  legislation  has  been  largely  under  the 
direction  of  a  special  class.  It  would  be  strange,  there- 
fore, if  political  action  and  legislation  were  not  more 
or  less  colored  by  the  customs  and  prepossessions  of  the 
controlling  elements  in  the  State.  For  another  thing,  po- 
litical action  is  always  conditioned  by  circumstances,  and 
justice  is  hence  an  approximation.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  as  conditions  change  men's  conceptions  of  justice 
also  change.  And  thus  what  passes  for  justice  in  one 
generation  may  be  denounced  as  injustice  in  a  succeeding 
age.  The  State  that  is  becoming  Christian,  however,  is 
marked  by  a  collective  and  continuous  determination  to 
establish  justice  throughout  society,  and  that  a  type  of 
justice  which  shall  keep  pace  with  the  growth  of  man's 
moral  life. 

The  moral  imperative  is  as  wide-reaching  as  life,  and 
the  law  of  justice  is  as  binding  upon  societies  as  upon 
individuals.  There  is  a  just  and  Christian  manner  of  life 
for  the  person,  and  there  is  a  just  and  Christian  consti- 
tution for  society ;  and  the  law  of  justice  is  as  much 
the  life  of  the  one  as  of  the  other.  We  pronounce  a  man 
unjust  when  he  disregards  the  rights  of  others  and  makes 
his  own  wishes  supreme ;  he  is  unjust  when  he  uses  others 
as  means  to  his  own  ends ;  he  is  unjust  when  he  seeks  to 
receive  goods  and  services  from  men  without  rendering 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  T)7i 

any  fair  and  equitable  return.  In  the  same  way  we  pro- 
nounce a  society  unjust  when  any  number  of  persons 
are  without  true  inheritance  in  life ;  "  it  is  unjust  when 
large  classes  in  it  are  so  enslaved  by  others  as  to  be 
unable  to  develop  their  own  lives;  it  is  unjust,  for  in- 
stance, when  there  is  any  class  in  it  so  poor  or  so  hard 
worked  or  so  dependent  upon  others,  as  to  be  unable  to 
cultivate  their  faculties  and  make  progress  toward  the 
perfection  of  their  own  nature ;  it  is  unjust  when  the  idle 
are  protected  and  set  in  power,  and  the  laborious  are 
crushed  down  and  degraded"  (Mackenzie,  "Manual  of 
Ethics,"  Bk.  Ill,  chap.  ii). 

Making  some  applications  of  this  principle  of  justice, 
we  must  pronounce  a  man  unjust  when  either  by  him- 
self or  in  combination  with  others,  he  seeks  and  secures 
control  of  any  natural  product  and  exploits  it  for  his  own 
advantage ;  he  is  unjust  when  he  employs  either  the  force 
of  club,  or  skill  of  intellect,  or  power  of  money,  to  prevent 
free  industrial  action  and  to  stifle  fair  competition ;  he  is 
unjust  when  he  uses  short  weights  and  misbrands  goods, 
and  when  he  picks  men's  pockets  on  the  streets,  or  by 
means  of  a  rebate ;  he  is  unjust  when  he  adulterates 
goods  and  bulls  the  market  no  less  than  when  he  uses  a 
false  bottom  in  his  peck  measure  and  corners  the  market 
to  fill  his  own  pocket.  In  like  manner  a  society  is  unjust 
when  a  disproportionate  share  of  the  goods  of  life  falls 
into  the  hands  of  any  special  class ;  it  is  unjust  when, 
according  to  the  census  of  1900  in  America,  the  average 
per  capita  production  is  from  twelve  to  fourteen  dollars 
a  day,  while  the  average  wage  is  one  dollar  and  thirty- 
eight  cents;  it  is  unjust  when  a  limited  number  of  men 
by  any  means  whatever,  within  or  without  the  law,  are 
permitted  to  gain  possession  of  the  land,  hold  all  the 
strategic  points  of  trade,  and  compel  the  people  to  pay 
them  monopoly  prices;  it  is  radically  unjust  when  any 


374 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


class  in  society  is  handicapped  from  birth  and  any  num- 
ber are  without  a  fair  access  to  the  common  heritage. 

In  the  State  that  is  becoming  Christian,  the  pursuit  of 
justice  is  a  primary  duty  that  claims  more  and  ever  more 
attention.  Toward  this  end  there  are  many  things  that 
men  can  do  through  the  State  in  behalf  of  justice.  For 
one  thing,  it  can  provide  by  its  laws  and  regulations  that 
men  shall  live  in  society  on  the  human  and  not  on  the 
jungle  plane.  The  time  has  been  when  men  interpreted 
the  process  of  life  as  a  struggle  for  existence  in  which 
the  fittest  survived;  and  by  the  fittest  they  usually  meant 
the  strongest,  the  most  aggressive,  those  best  fitted  to  claim 
and  keep  the  lion's  share.  In  certain  lines  of  action  the 
State  has  recognized  its  obligation  to  protect  the  weak 
and  conscientious  against  the  strong  and  immoral,  but  this 
principle  must  be  applied  all  along  the  line  of  man's  social 
and  industrial  life.  Again,  the  State  can  guarantee  ful- 
ness of  opportunity  to  all  its  citizens,  and  can  provide 
the  conditions  of  a  fair  and  human  life  in  society.  The 
time  may  never  come — at  least  there  is  little  prospect  of 
its  near  approach — when  all  men  are  equally  endowed 
with  mental  and  moral  power.  But  the  time  is  forever 
here  when  all  men,  be  they  weak  or  strong,  are  entitled  in 
justice  to  ample  opportunity  in  life,  with  fair  access  to 
the  inheritance  of  society. 

For  another  thing,  the  State  can  provide  that  gains 
received  and  privileges  enjoyed  shall  bear  some  proportion 
to  service  rendered  and  duties  fulfilled.  In  every  nation 
to-day  there  is  wealth  enough  to  give  every  person  a  fair 
material  basis  of  life;  and  yet  in  every  nation  there  are 
many  who  are  in  abject  poverty,  while  others  struggle 
hard  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the  door.  And  all  the  time  in 
these  lands  a  few  are  living  in  luxury,  hardly  able  to  know 
how  to  spend  their  superfluous  incomes.  This,  in  itself, 
is  significant  enough,  but  more  significant  is  the  other 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  375 

fact  that  the  proportion  of  wealth  falling  to  the  various 
parties  holds  little  or  no  relation  to  the  real  toil  expended 
and  service  rendered.  No  one,  probably  not  even  the 
most  reactionary  individualist,  is  willing  to  maintain  that 
these  incomes  are  justly  apportioned,  and  that  no  one 
receives  more  than  he  has  really  earned,  while  many 
receive  less.  The  time  may  not  come  very  soon  when 
all  these  things  shall  be  adjusted  according  to  exact 
equity,  and  men  must  not  expect  the  social  millennium  to- 
morrow. But  none  the  less  the  State  that  would  be 
Christian  must  set  this  aim  before  itself,  and  must  make 
progress  in  this  direction. 

In  the  State  that  is  becoming  Christian  there  will  be  a 
continuous  and  collective  determination  to  establish  justice 
throughout  society  in  the  industrial  as  well  as  in  the 
political  sphere.  In  fact,  this  search  for  justice  is  the 
peculiar  function  of  the  State,  and  the  State  that  is  less 
than  just  is  false  to  its  first  principle.  Besides,  the  State 
is  the  only  agency  through  which  all  the  people  can  join 
in  this  search  after  justice  among  men.  In  saying  this 
we  do  not  mean  that  justice  is  to  be  the  only  object  of  the 
State,  but  we  must  insist  that  it  is  the  primary  object.  No 
society  can  be  even  remotely  Christian  that  is  not  approxi- 
mately just.  It  is  vain  to  talk  of  a  Christian  civilization 
or  to  hope  for  social  peace  without  justice  all  along  the 
line.  There  is  a  deep  significance  in  the  story  of  Melchise- 
dek,  the  priest  of  God  and  the  king  of  Salem.  This  man, 
whose  name  signifies  the  king  of  righteousness,  dwelt  in  a 
city  called  Salem,  or  Peace.  The  discontent  of  men  can 
be  allayed  and  social  peace  can  be  ensured  by  nothing  less 
than  justice.  Men  may  seek  to  appease  the  poor  and 
help  the  disinherited  by  charities  and  benefactions,  but 
no  permanent  solution  of  any  problem  can  be  found  in 
this  way,  and  society  cannot  advance  an  inch  nearer  its 
goal.    "  What  may  be  called  the  great  bluff  of  our  times 


376 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


is  the  effort  to  put  gratuities  and  benefactions  in  the 
place  of  justice.  There  is  no  donation,  however  gaudy, 
that  can  fulfil  the  place  of  justice  "  (Brooks,  "  The  Social 
Unrest,"  p.  203).  There  must  be  something  more  than 
justice,  as  we  shall  see,  to  make  a  Christian  State,  but 
the  State  can  never  be  Christian  with  anything  less  than 
justice  all  along  the  line. 

IV.  The  Steady  and  Collective  Effort  to  Realize  the 
Spirit  of  Brotherhood  and  Love  in  All  the  Relations  of 
Society.  As  we  have  seen,  the  Christian  spirit  has  created 
the  finest  type  of  personal  character;  it  has  created  also 
the  Christian  family  and  the  Christian  church ;  and  all  of 
these  achievements  are  of  great  worth  and  meaning. 
The  Spirit  of  Christ  and  the  law  of  love,  it  is  admitted, 
are  the  spirit  and  law  for  the  person,  the  family,  and  the 
church;  in  these  relations  we  expect  men  to  be  loving 
and  self-sacrificing ;  we  expect  them  to  bear  one  another's 
burdens.  Brotherhood  and  equality,  love  and  self-sacrifice 
we  have  accepted  as  the  Christian  principles  for  homes 
and  for  prayer  meetings;  and  by  the  application  of  these 
principles  these  institutions  have  become  approximately 
Christian. 

But  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  is  the 
law  for  men  in  all  relations  and  realms  of  life.  This  law, 
by  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  applies  everywhere,  or  it 
applies  nowhere.  This  law  is  as  real  and  as  obligatory  in 
the  State  as  in  the  Church.  The  man  who  believes  in 
God  believes  him  all  along  the  line  of  life.  This  law  of 
God  requires  men  to  love  one  another  in  halls  of  legisla- 
tion as  well  as  in  family  circles ;  it  asks  them  to  bear  one 
another's  burdens  in  corporations  as  well  as  in  prayer 
meetings ;  it  calls  upon  them  to  take  thought  for  others 
and  to  seek  their  welfare  in  and  through  the  political 
State  as  well  as  in  and  through  the  family  circle  and  the 
Christian  church. 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  277 

I  know,  of  course,  that  many  men  will  question  all  this, 
and  will  write  one  down  as  an  impracticable  visionary. 
In  some  other  world  it  is  said,  where  a  different  order 
prevails,  and  where  men  live  in  different  conditions,  it 
may  be  possible  to  practise  this  law  and  principle.  In 
some  far-away  millennium,  when  the  selfish  tempers  of 
men  have  been  toned  down,  it  is  conceded  all  men  may 
live  by  the  law  of  Christ,  and  a  brotherly,  social  order 
may  be  possible.  Now,  in  the  face  of  all  these  question- 
ings and  denials,  the  Christian  must  confess  his  faith  in 
Christ,  and  must  dare  to  honor  his  law ;  he  must  declare 
that  the  State,  equally  with  the  family  and  the  Church, 
must  honor  the  law  of  Christ,  and  must  fulfil  that  law  in 
all  its  policies  and  practices.  The  time  has  come  for  the 
State  to  confess  its  faith  in  the  law  of  love  and  the 
principle  of  brotherhood,  and  then  to  set  about  the  task 
of  their  practical  realization.  In  fine,  the  State  also  must 
become  Christian. 

Thus  far  in  the  thought  of  men  and  the  progress  of 
society,  men  and  societies  have  been  measured  by  their 
fulfilment  of  the  law  of  justice.  But  the  time  is  coming, 
nay,  it  is  even  now  here,  when  men  and  societies  are  to 
be  measured  by  their  fulfilment  of  the  law  of  love.  It  is 
not  enough  for  a  man  and  for  a  society  to  be  simply  just ; 
this  is  no  mean  attainment,  and  must  not  be  minimized ; 
but  they  must  be  loving  also  if  they  would  fulfil  the  law  of 
Christ  and  stand  justified  before  God.  The  man  who 
would  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ  and  be  a  citizen  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  must  therefore  seek  to  adjust  the  rela- 
tions of  men  in  harmony  with  the  law  of  love ;  and  he 
must  labor  to  build  up  in  the  earth  a  society  that  shall  be 
the  incarnation  of  love,  and  whose  constitution  shall  be 
the  organized  fulfilment  of  the  mind  of  Christ. 

In  the  State  that  is  becoming  Christian,  this  law  of  love 
and  this  principle  of  brotherhood  will  find  ever  wider 


378 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


and  fuller  realization.  As  society  becomes  more  Chris- 
tian, men  will  see  more  and  more  clearly  that  the  State 
is  one  great  family,  and  in  this  family  men  are  to  live  as 
brothers;  they  will  see  that  in  this  larger  family,  as  in 
the  smaller,  each  is  for  all,  and  all  are  for  each.  And  in 
this  family  each  is  to  find  his  life  in  and  through  the 
life  of  all ;  and  in  this  larger  family  the  statutes  and 
arrangements  will  be  but  the  political  application  of  the 
law  of  love  and  the  principle  of  brotherhood.  In  this 
social  family  the  fellowship  of  men  will  be  organized  on 
the  basis  of  service  and  not  exploitation,  and  an  effort  will 
be  made  to  give  every  person  and  class  their  fair  share 
of  the  common  inheritance.  In  this  family  the  weak  are 
not  compelled  to  work  the  longest  hours  and  to  take  the 
smallest  wage  because  they  are  weak  and  are  unable  to 
organize  themselves  into  trade  unions.  In  this  family  the 
older  and  stronger  do  not  seize  the  choicest  bits  of  food 
and  call  it  profit,  nor  do  they  crowd  the  sickly  members 
out  of  the  sunshine  on  the  plea  of  demand  and  supply. 
In  short,  the  State  that  is  becoming  Christian  is  beginning 
to  regard  itself  as  one  great  family  in  which  each  mem- 
ber has  a  place  and  a  worth,  and  where  fellowship  is 
organized  on  the  basis  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  and 
the  solidarity  of  interests.1 

In  view  of  this,  one  of  two  things  men  must  do :  They 
must  either  renounce  the  Christian  ideal  and  repudiate  the 
Christian  law ;  or  they  must  begin  to  practise  their  faith 
in  the  Christian  ideal  and  confess  their  loyalty  to  the  law 
of  love  in  the  life  and  order  of  society  as  well  as  in  the 
family  circle  and  the  prayer  meeting.  The  fact  is,  the 
spirit  of  brotherly  love  will  never  have  its  perfect  work 
and  become  a  potent  thing  in  the  world  till  it  becomes 


1  In  this  chapter,  and  especially  in  this  section,  I  have  received  many  valuable 
suggestions  from  an  address  by  my  comrade,  Prof.  Walter  Rauschenbusch,  as  given 
in  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  Religious  Education  Society  "  for  1907. 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  379 

incarnate  in  these  larger  relations  of  life.  The  faith  that 
cannot  dominate  and  transform  all  life  can  never  become 
the  final  faith  of  the  world.  The  love  that  can  fill  all  life 
and  transform  all  society  is  the  love  that  will  move  the 
world  and  command  the  future.  The  steady  and  collect- 
ive effort  to  realize  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love  in  all 
the  relations  of  society  is  one  of  the  great  tasks  before 
the  modern  world. 

V.  The  Collective  and  Unchanging  Will  to  Secure  for 
Every  Person  the  Conditions  of  a  Full,  Human,  Moral 
Life.  In  any  complete  view  of  man  there  are  four  factors 
that  must  be  taken  into  account — heredity,  environment, 
individual  will,  and  the  grace  of  God.  At  different  times 
and  by  different  men  the  emphasis  has  been  thrown  now 
upon  one  and  now  upon  another  of  these  factors.  In 
fact,  there  has  been  an  attempt  upon  the  part  of  some  to 
explain  life  in  terms  of  one  factor  and  to  minimize  all  the 
others.  Thus,  among  theologians,  there  has  been  a  disposi- 
tion to  explain  everything  in  terms  of  personal  will  and 
the  grace  of  God;  these,  it  is  said,  are  the  determining 
factors  in  man's  life,  and  the  others  signify  little.  Among 
sociologists  there  is  a  tendency  to  explain  life  in  terms  of 
environment  alone ;  man  is  the  product  of  his  environment, 
we  are  told,  and  we  will  have  better  men  when  they  have 
better  conditions.  But  all  this  is  a  mistake,  and  it  leads 
to  tragic  results.  It  means  a  narrow  and  one-sided  view 
of  man,  and  it  leads  to  one-sided  and  narrow  effort  in 
man's  uplifting.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  of  these  factors 
are  essential,  and  it  is  unwise  to  exalt  one  at  the  expense 
of  the  others.  Where  all  are  vital  all  must  be  taken  into 
account.  Without  in  any  sense  minimizing  or  ignoring 
these  other  three  factors,  we  here  notice  the  influence  of 
environment  upon  man's  life,  and  then  consider  the  action 
of  the  State  with  reference  to  this  factor.  It  is  not  the 
only  factor  in  life,  but  it  is  second  to  none  in  importance. 


38o 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


That  this  factor  of  environment — using  the  term  in  the 
large  sense  to  connote  the  whole  congeries  of  social  con- 
ditions— is  a  determining  factor  in  the  lives  of  men  is 
becoming  very  plain.  Thus  it  is  an  accepted  article  of 
scientific  and  Christian  faith  that  all  mankind  have 
descended  from  a  common  ancestor.  Yet,  in  the  race,  as 
we  find  it,  there  are  all  kinds  and  conditions  of  men,  of 
different  colors  and  characteristics,  with  different  mental 
and  moral  powers,  with  capacities  and  talents  that  range 
through  the  scale  from  zero  to  infinity.  Not  only  so,  but 
in  every  society  in  the  world  there  are  all  kinds  and  con- 
ditions of  people,  of  different  capacities  and  powers,  with 
some  living  in  luxury  and  others  living  in  poverty,  with  a 
few  men  standing  on  the  heights  of  life,  but  the  great 
majority  still  creeping  in  the  valleys,  with  some  enjoying 
a  rich  heritage  of  achievement  and  others  little  else  than 
social  wastrels. 

There  are  two  questions  which  go  deep  into  the  prob- 
lem before  us,  and  these  questions  society  must  seriously 
consider  in  the  days  to  come ;  when  these  are  answered  the 
whole  aspect  of  the  problem  is  changed.  How  far  are 
the  differences  observed  among  men  due  to  innate  and 
natural  differences  in  the  quality  of  life  itself?  How 
far  are  these  differences  caused  by  outward  conditions 
and  untoward  circumstances?  These  questions  we  can- 
not discuss  in  detail,  but  one  or  two  things  may  be  noted 
here. 

According  to  the  Christian  conception,  mankind  are 
all  partakers  of  one  nature.  It  lies  within  the  purpose  of 
God  that  every  child  born  into  the  world  shall  have  a 
fair  chance  for  the  best  things  in  life.  The  time  has  gone 
by  when  men  can  believe  that  there  are  various  grades 
of  people,  with  whole  classes  doomed  to  slavery,  and  other 
peoples  made  for  headship  and  ease.  The  time  has  gone 
by  when  men  can  believe  that  the  differences  seen  in  every 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  381 

society  are  here  by  the  decree  of  God.  This  is  not  all, 
but  according  to  the  modern  sociological  view  of  man  the 
factor  called  environment  is  a  kind  of  mold  into  which 
the  plastic  life  is  poured,  there  to  be  shaped  and  de- 
termined. According  to  the  teachings  of  sociology  hu- 
man nature  is  a  pretty  constant  quality,  and  in  itself  and 
of  itself  possesses  no  such  differences  as  are  found  among 
men.  This  means,  on  the  one  side,  that  the  factor  of 
environment  is  chiefly  responsible  for  the  marked  and  dis- 
tressful differences  that  we  find  among  men  in  mental  and 
moral  capacity,  as  well  as  the  obvious  and  ominous  num- 
ber of  dependent  and  defective  members  of  society.  This 
means,  on  the  other  side,  that  if  this  factor  of  environ- 
ment were  fully  understood  and  consciously  directed,  it 
might  be  possible  to  eliminate  from  society  these  worse 
phenomena  and  to  narrow  the  differences  among  men. 

In  view  of  all  this  the  State  that  is  becoming  Christian 
has  a  very  definite  duty  to  fulfil.  It  must  hold  its  re- 
sources in  pledge  for  all  its  members,  and  must  provide 
that  the  help  shall  be  greatest  where  the  need  is  sorest. 
It  must  use  its  wisdom  and  authority  in  changing  condi- 
tions that  are  hurtful  and  hindering,  and  in  creating 
conditions  that  shall  be  helpful  and  uplifting.  It  must 
declare  that  no  soul  shall  be  allowed  to  grow  up  in  evil 
and  defiling  surroundings,  and  it  must  guarantee  to  every 
person  the  conditions  for  a  full,  human,  moral,  and 
worthy  life.  The  State  has  an  interest  in  every  one  of 
its  members,  and  no  life  is  too  insignificant  to  lie  beyond 
its  concern.  — 

In  the  fulfilment  of  this  aim  there  are  many  things 
that  the  State  can  do  and  must  do  if  it  would  be  approxi- 
mately Christian.  It  will  seek  to  remove  all  conditions 
that  make  for  human  weakness,  and  will  exert  its  author- 
ity to  provide  those  that  make  for  human  well-being.  It 
will  wage  an  unceasing  warfare  against  all  conditions 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


that  make  it  easy  for  childhood  to  lose  its  bloom  of 
innocence  and  hard  for  it  to  grow  up  pure  and  strong. 
It  will  put  forth  a  steady  effort  to  build  a  wall  of  protec- 
tion around  girlhood  and  boyhood,  and  to  shield  child- 
hood from  needless  toil  and  hardship.  It  will  exercise 
its  sovereignty  in  removing  the  handicaps  and  hindrances 
that  are  upon  men,  and  will  show  its  wisdom  in  keeping 
the  door  of  opportunity  open  before  every  soul  within  its 
jurisdiction.  If  the  conditions  are  unsanitary  the  State 
will  organize  a  board  of  health,  and  will  endeavor  to  make 
them  sanitary.  If  there  are  unfit  tenements  that  poison 
life  and  breed  disease,  the  State  will  condemn  them  and 
will  order  the  very  ground  to  be  disinfected.  If  the 
State  finds  that  children  are  growing  up  in  evil  surround- 
ings and  without  fit  parentage,  it  will  assume  the  function 
of  a  guardian,  and  will  either  compel  the  natural  parents 
to  provide  better  conditions,  or  it  will  annul  the  bond  of 
parenthood  and  provide  new  homes  for  its  orphans.  If  it 
finds  that  children  have  no  childhood  and  no  playgrounds, 
it  will  tear  down  factories  to  provide  playgrounds,  and 
will  consider  this  money  well  spent.  If  it  finds  that  chil- 
dren are  growing  up  in  vicious  ways  it  will  establish 
juvenile  courts  and  probation  officers,  and  will  hold  its 
resources  in  pledge  for  the  redemption  of  the  young.  If 
it  finds  that  any  set  of  men  are  making  merchandise  of 
girlhood,  it  will  hurl  the  thunderbolts  of  its  wrath,  and 
will  end  this  diabolism.  In  fine,  the  State  will  exercise 
its  authority  in  providing  the  necessary  moral  conditions 
of  a  good  life. 

Again,  in  every  society,  there  are  many  persons  who 
begin  the  struggle  of  life  at  a  disadvantage  from  other 
causes.  Through  the  faults  or  the  misfortunes  of  their 
parents  they  begin  life  without  any  real  foothold  or 
fair  opportunity.  They  come  into  the  world  to  find  all  its 
resources  claimed  in  perpetuity  by  others,  and  thus  they 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  383 

begin  life  under  conditions  which  utterly  disbar  them 
from  any  fair  chance  in  life.  They  are  early  forced  into 
the  mine  or  the  factory  to  work,  and  thus,  growing  up 
without  an  education,  they  are  unable  to  rise  out  of  their 
condition.  Now,  however  it  may  have  been  in  the  past, 
the  time  is  going  by  when  the  State  that  is  gaining  the 
/Spirit  of  Christ  will  be  willing  that  any  soul  should 
grow  up  handicapped  and  unprivileged  in  this  way.  And 
so  it  must  put  forth  a  continuous  and  collective  effort  to 
provide  conditions  for  every  soul  which  make  possible  a 
worthy  human  life. 

This  means  that  the  State  that  is  becoming  Christian 
must  make  a  collective  effort  to  give  all  its  citizens  ad- 
vantageous terms  for  the  development  of  their  lives.  If 
great  estates  are  increasing  from  generation  to  generation 
to  the  disadvantage  of  the  people,  the  State  will  exert  its 
authority  and  will  tax  and  limit  inheritances.  If  the  nat- 
ural resources  of  the  earth  are  falling  into  a  few  hands 
and  are  being  exploited  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  many, 
the  State  will  vindicate  the  principle  of  eminent  domain, 
and  will  change  this  order  of  things.  If  many  of  the 
people  are  unable  to  provide  the  means  of  a  worthy  edu- 
cation the  State  will  establish  a  public-school  system 
whereby  every  child  may  have  a  fair  opportunity  to  de- 
velop its  powers.  If  there  is  danger  lest  any  of  the  people 
be  denied  access  to  knowledge  and  literature,  the  State 
will  build  and  maintain  libraries  and  will  consider  such 
expenditures  as  most  wise.  If  any  of  the  children  are 
forced  into  mines  and  factories  to  labor,  the  State  will 
wisely  forbid  such  labor,  and  will  seek  to  make  it  unneces- 
sary for  children  thus  to  toil.  If  there  is  a  large  class  of 
unemployed  workers,  the  State  will  not  only  seek  to  pro- 
vide work  for  them,  but  it  will  inquire  into  the  causes  of 
such  unemployment,  and  will  seek  to  remove  these  causes. 
If  there  is  social  deterioration  at  any  point  owing  to  un- 


384 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


certain  employment,  low  wages,  and  excessive  toil,  the 
State  will  consider  these  things  and  will  not  rest  till  it 
has  found  a  remedy. 

One  is  well  aware  of  the  objection  brought  by  many 
who  call  themselves  practical  men  of  business.  These 
things  are  good  enough  for  preaching,  but  they  will 
not  work  in  this  matter-of-fact  world.  Besides  all  this, 
the  laws  of  trade  are  inevitable  and  inflexible;  in  order 
to  maintain  the  present  industrial  prosperity  and  produce 
cheap  goods,  it  is  necessary  that  some  children  should  labor 
in  coal  breakers  and  in  factories ;  we  may  deplore  the  sad 
results,  but  these  things  cannot  be  avoided ;  we  cannot 
stop  the  wheels  of  industry  for  the  sake  of  a  few  chil- 
dren; and  what  is  more,  we  cannot  meddle  with  the  laws 
of  trade  without  producing  a  crisis,  thus  doing  more 
harm  than  good.  Such  reactionary  and  unhuman  pleas 
have  been  heard  from  the  beginning  at  every  forward  step. 
But  humanity  has  persisted,  thanks  to  the  brave  faith  of 
the  people,  and  has  ended  one  abuse  after  another;  and 
humanity  will  persist  in  the  future  and  will  never  rest 
till  it  has  changed  the  whole  order  of  things  and  has 
made  it  possible  for  every  child  to  have  a  fair  chance. 
Everything  depends  upon  the  point  of  view.  The  policy 
of  the  State  in  the  last  analysis  turns  upon  the  one  ques- 
tion whether  man  is  means  or  whether  he  is  end. 

Last  of  all,  the  State  will  seek  to  provide  "  fit  oppor- 
tunity in  infinite  variety "  for  all  its  members.  It  is 
needless  to  discuss  the  fact — so  patent  to  all — that  men 
differ  greatly  in  endowments  and  aptitudes,  and  these 
differences  are  as  inevitable  as  they  are  necessary.  Since 
this  is  so,  each  man  ought  to  respect  his  individuality  and 
live  his  own  life;  and  society  should  provide  each  man 
free  scope  for  his  talents  and  encourage  him  to  make  the 
most  of  his  aptitude. 

But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  find  that  there  are — and 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN"  SOCIETY  385 

there  always  have  been — influences  at  work  which  seek 
to  run  men  into  the  same  mold  and  reduce  them  to  a 
dead  uniformity.  The  modern  factory  turns  out  watches 
by  the  thousands  every  year,  but  it  is  enabled  to  do  this 
by  making  them  all  exactly  alike.  If  human  society  were 
an  aggregation  of  Waterbury  watches,  it  might  be  well 
enough  to  subject  them  all  to  the  same  discipline  and 
expect  of  them  all  the  same  results ;  but  since  society  is  a 
union  of  human  beings,  each  with  his  own  aptitudes  and 
capacities,  the  individuality  of  each  must  be  recognized 
and  fit  opportunty  must  be  provided.  It  will  be  a  great 
day  for  the  progress  of  man  when  society  honors  indi- 
viduality and  seeks  both  to  multiply  fit  opportunity  and 
to  increase  its  variety  ("Charities  and  the  Commons," 
April  2,  1908).  This  means  that  each  life  is  entitled  to 
fair  consideration,  and  should  have  opportunity  to  make 
the  most  of  itself.  The  largest  service  which  society  can 
render  to  any  life  consists  in  providing  it  with  fit  oppor- 
tunity to  grow  and  unfold  to  the  highest  degree. 

The  world  only  grows  better,  even  in  the  moderate 
degree  in  which  it  does  grow  better,  John  Morley  reminds 
us,  because  people  wish  that  it  should  and  take  the  right 
steps  to  make  it  better.  The  progress  of  society  will  be 
accelerated,  we  may  add,  as  men  appreciate  the  importance 
of  environment  and  set  about  the  creation  of  conditions 
that  are  helpful  to  man.  What  then  is  the  conclusion  of 
this  whole  matter?  The  citizens  of  the  State  that  would 
become  Christian  must  study  this  question  of  environ- 
ment, and  must  know  what  are  the  things  that  help  or 
hinder  the  human  being.  Then  these  citizens,  in  and 
through  the  State,  must  resolutely  set  about  the  creation 
of  social  conditions  which  shall  promote  human  develop- 
ment and  shall  make  possible  for  every  person  a  full  and 
worthy  life.  "  The  watchful  eye  of  the  State  must  be 
directed  for  protection  of  all  classes  of  persons  who  are 
z 


386 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


likely  to  lose  ground  by  their  own  weakness,  and  to  be 
permanently  thrown  out  of  the  ways  of  advancement  by 
the  simple  force  of  events  "  (Bascom,  "  Sociology,"  p.  45). 
And  the  resources  of  the  State  must  be  held  in  pledge  for 
all  its  members,  and  the  authority  of  the  State  must  be 
employed  in  creating  conditions  that  shall  make  for  hu- 
man progress  and  development.  In  fine,  the  State  that  is 
becoming  Christian  will  not  be  satisfied  that  there  shall 
be  any  outcast  and  unprivileged  souls  doomed  from  birth 
to  poverty  and  sin,  and  debarred  by  conditions  beyond 
their  control  from  all  the  best  things  in  life ;  and  it  will 
not  rest  till  it  has  created  conditions  which  make  possible 
for  every  one  of  its  members  a  full  and  worthy  human 
and  moral  life. 

This  effort  on  the  part  of  society  to  provide  for  every 
soul  the  material  basis  and  necessary  conditions  of  a 
human  and  worthy  life  is  the  negative  aspect  of  a  great 
social  duty.  It  now  remains  for  us  to  consider  the  posi- 
tive aspect  of  this  duty,  which  consists  in  the  effort  of 
society  to  evoke  the  possibilities  of  each  life,  to  nourish 
it  into  fulness  and  maturity,  and  both  to  give  it  access  to 
the  best  things  in  life  and  to  train  it  in  the  appreciation 
and  use  of  these  best  things. 

VI.  A  Genuine  Interest  in  All,  with  a  Steady  Effort  to 
Give  Each  Person  a  Fair  Inheritance  in  Society.  In  a 
previous  chapter  we  have  seen  that  in  every  society  to- 
day there  is  a  large  class  of  the  disinherited,  who  begin 
life  under  conditions  which  are  a  serious  handicap,  and 
which  preclude  them  from  any  real  chance  therein.  But 
since  every  human  being  possesses  an  infinite  worth  and 
has  some  meaning  in  the  total  value  of  society ;  and 
since  social  progress  is  the  march  of  all  together,  it  fol- 
lows that  the  State  should  seek  to  bring  up  the  laggards 
in  the  march  and  to  give  every  person  a  fair  inheritance 
in  society. 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  387 

In  the  pursuit  of  this  aim  there  are  three  things  which 
men  must  steadily  keep  before  themselves.  First,  there  is 
no  reason  in  the  will  of  God  and  the  nature  of  man  why 
there  should  be  all  this  poverty  and  waste  with  a  large 
disinherited  class  without  any  true  inheritance  in  life. 
Secondly,  a  society  which  is  approximately  Christian  in 
spirit  and  method  will  show  a  vital  interest  in  every  one 
of  its  members,  and  will  use  its  resources  in  behalf  of  his 
uplifting.  And  thirdly,  this  is  a  social  task,  and  must  be 
achieved  by  social  action,  and  not  by  individual  action 
alone. 

1.  There  is  no  reason  in  the  will  of  God  and  the  nature 
of  things  for  all  the  waste  of  modern  society  and  for  the 
presence  of  a  large  disinherited  class.  It  lies  within  the 
purpose  of  God  that  every  life  should  grow  up  tall  and 
straight,  and  should  be  clean  and  pure.  That  this  is  so 
is  made  very  evident  in  the  Christian  Scriptures,  wherein 
we  have  a  revelation  of  God's  character  and  purpose. 
Thus,  the  lawgiver  of  old  dreamed  of  a  time  when  there 
should  be  no  poor  in  the  land  (Deut.  15  :  4),  and  to  the 
best  of  his  ability  he  sought  to  hasten  on  that  day.  The 
prophet  foresaw  the  time  when  all  men  should  dwell  in 
peace,  each  under  his  own  vine  and  fig  tree  (Micah  4:4), 
when  the  land  should  produce  in  abundance  and  there 
would  be  enough  for  all  (Isa.  32  :  16-20).  The  Son  of 
man  declares  that  it  is  not  the  will  of  the  Father  who 
is  in  heaven  that  one  of  his  little  ones  should  perish,  and 
he  utters  a  heavy  woe  upon  those  who  put  a  stumbling- 
block  before  the  little  child  (Matt.  18  :  6-14).  The  seer 
of  Patmos  cherished  the  vision  of  a  city  in  which  there  are 
no  disinherited,  but  where  all  have  access  to  the  tree  of 
life  (Rev.  21  :  22).  The  Father's  bounties  are  for  all 
his  children  and,  as  there  is  plenty  and  to  spare  in  the 
Father's  house,  there  is  every  reason  why  every  soul 
should  have  access  to  these  bounties,  and  should  have  a 


388 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


fair  inheritance  in  life.  That  a  human  soul  made  for 
knowledge  and  power  should  die  ignorant  and  neglected 
we  must  call  a  tragedy,  whether  it  happen  twenty  times 
in  a  minute,  as  some  maintain,  or  only  once  in  a  gener- 
ation. 

2.  The  will  of  God  concerning  his  human  children 
defines  the  policy  of  the  State  in  its  social  action.  In  the 
State  that  is  becoming  Christian,  an  unceasing  effort  is. 
made  to  widen  the  door  of  opportunity  and  to  hold  the 
resources  of  society  in  pledge  for  all  its  members.  Several 
things  may  be  mentioned  briefly  as  entering  into  this  part 
of  our  programme. 

First,  the  State  will  seek  to  provide  for  every  person 
the  opportunity  of  an  education,  and  thus  to  give  him  a 
fair  access  to  the  best  things  of  life  with  a  measurable 
development  of  his  powers.  One  or  two  things  may  be 
noted  here :  Any  real  education  means  the  development 
and  unfolding  of  the  native  capacities  of  the  soul ;  to 
prepare  the  person  to  make  the  most  of  himself  for  him- 
self and  for  society.  Education  is  a  vital  process,  and 
consists  in  the  development  of  each  life  in  its  highest 
capacities.  This,  in  whole  or  in  part,  is  recognized 
by  the  best  modern  State  as  the  system  of  general 
education  testifies.  But  this  aim,  none  the  less,  needs 
to  be  newly  conceived  that  the  whole  system  may 
be  enlarged  to  meet  the  ever-enlarging  conception  of 
human  life.  "  There  can  be  no  equality  and  no  justice, 
not  to  speak  of  equity,  so  long  as  society  is  composed  of 
members,  equally  endowed  by  nature,  a  few  of  whom  only 
possess  the  social  heritage  of  truth  and  ideas  of  all  past 
ages,  while  the  great  mass  are  shut  out  from  all  the  light 
that  human  achievement  has  shed  upon  the  world.  The 
equalization  of  opportunity  means  the  equalization  of  edu- 
cation, and  not  until  this  is  attained  is  there  any  virtue  or 
hope  in  schemes  for  the  equalization  of  the  material 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  389 

resources  of  society"  (Ward,  "Applied  Sociology,"  p. 
281). 

Again,  the  total  resources  of  the  State — the  material 
basis  of  every  life — are  to  be  held  in  trust  for  the  benefit 
of  all,  and  no  one  class  must  be  allowed  to  obtain  an 
undue  and  disproportionate  share  of  the  common  heri- 
tage. No  man  and  no  class  of  men  can  be  allowed  to 
preempt  in  perpetuity  the  strategic  points  of  advantage 
and  thus  to  compel  all  their  fellows  to  pay  them  tribute. 
The  authority  of  the  State,  which  represents  the  highest 
will  of  the  people,  must  be  kept  free  from  class  control, 
and  must  steadily  exert  itself  in  behalf  of  social  justice 
and  human  progress.  It  is  intolerable  to  the  Christian 
spirit  that  the  resources  of  society  should  be  manipulated 
by  the  few  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  many.  It  is  con- 
trary to  the  Christian  conception  of  things  that  a  few 
men  shall  preempt  all  the  choice  gifts  of  God,  while  the 
great  majority  must  pay  them  tribute  for  the  mere  privi- 
lege of  living  and  be  content.  It  is  part  and  parcel  of  the 
Christian  conception  that  the  highest  goods  of  life  are  for 
all  men,  and  to  labor  that  all  men  may  be  raised  up  into 
the  possession  and  appreciation  of  these  goods.  And  so 
it  is  part  and  parcel  of  this  conception  that  the  strength 
and  wisdom  of  all  shall  be  held  in  pledge  for  the  uplift 
and  blessing  of  all ;  that  in  the  strength  and  blessing  of  all 
each  may  find  his  own  life  and  portion. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  task  it  may  not  be  desirable, 
as  it  may  not  be  possible,  for  the  State  to  inaugurate  a 
system  of  communal  ownership  of  land  or  to  divide  up 
the  common  inheritance  in  every  new  generation.  It  may 
be  desirable  and  wise,  however,  for  the  modern  states- 
man to  consider  the  great  principles  that  underlay  the 
Mosaic  legislation  with  reference  to  this  whole  question  of 
social  opportunity.  In  that  legislation  an  effort  was  made 
by  means  of  the  jubilee  provision,  to  erect  a  bar  to  the 


39Q 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


monopoly  of  land  and  to  prevent  the  rise  of  a  permanently 
landless  class  without  any  true  inheritance  in  the  nation. 
The  legislator  recognized  certain  facts  that  are  known 
to  all ;  that  in  every  society  there  are  some  persons  who, 
from  one  cause  or  another,  find  it  difficult  to  maintain 
their  footing;  he  recognized  the  other  fact  that  in  every 
society  there  are  some  men  who  are  ready  to  take  advan- 
tage of  their  brothers'  weakness  and  inefficiency,  and  use 
these  as  a  means  to  their  own  ends.  For  many  years  the 
rich  man  might  join  house  to  house  and  lay  field  to  field 
till  there  was  no  place  where  the  poor  man  might  rest ;  for 
many  years  the  poor  man  might  be  kept  out  of  his  ances- 
tral estate,  but  his  children  could  not  be  hopelessly  handi- 
capped. For,  after  a  time,  this  process  of  land  monopoly 
must  cease  and  the  lands  revert  to  their  original  owners. 
The  whole  tendency  and  aim  of  this  jubilee  system  was  to 
make  land  monopoly  impossible  and  to  prevent  the  rise  of 
a  permanent  land-holding  class  that  should  control  all  the 
strategic  points.  And  the  whole  tendency  and  aim  of 
this  system,  on  the  other  side,  was  to  renew  in  every 
generation  the  conditions  of  a  moral  life  and  to  declare 
that  one  generation  should  not  be  put  out  of  the  race  by 
the  action  of  a  previous  one.  This  legislation  sought  to 
broaden  the  way  of  success  for  all,  to  put  a  limit  to  the 
greed  and  cruelty  of  men,  to  give  every  one  a  fair  start 
in  life  with  a  just  inheritance  in  society  (Lev.  25  :  10-13; 
also  Munger,  "Freedom  of  Faith,"  "Land  Tenure"). 

It  is  probable  that  no  modern  legislator  would  seri- 
ously think  of  applying  this  law  in  its  literal  provisions 
to  the  life  of  to-day ;  but  beyond  question  there  are  great 
underlying  principles  in  this  old  legislation  that  must  be 
considered  and  applied  by  every  State  that  would  truly 
promote  the  welfare  of  all  its  members.  "  The  State 
has  the  difficult  duty  of  encouraging  and  aiding  unim- 
peded activity  in  every  class,  and  at  the  same  time  re- 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  39I 

ntwing  its  conditions  in  each  class.  The  race  is  to  be 
renewed  morning,  noon,  and  night  on  equal  terms." 
Again,  "  Society  is  to  strive  for  a  perpetual  renewal  of 
opportunities  and  redistribution  of  advantages,  so  that 
every  child  shall  come  from  the  cradle  to  a  fresh  world 
with  fresh  incentives,  not  to  one  overworn  and  used  up 
for  him  by  the  errors  of  past  generations"  (Bascom, 
"Sociology,"  pp.  45,  252).  This  principle  is  clear  and 
positive,  and  it  will  gain  an  increasing  recognition  as 
men  become  more  just  and  society  becomes  more  Chris- 
tian. 

3.  And  finally,  the  State  that  is  becoming  Christian, 
will  regard  this  work  as  a  social  mission  and  not  alone  as 
an  individual  task.  It  may  be  said,  in  passing,  that  there 
are  many  who,  while  admitting  these  tragic  phenomena, 
yet  make  short  shrift  of  the  whole  question  by  saying 
that  their  cure  is  wholly  an  individual  problem,  and  the 
State  has  consequently  no  duty  in  the  premises.  The 
vast  majority  of  these  people  are  poor  and  ignorant  and 
sickly  and  helpless,  we  are  told,  because  they  prefer  this 
condition,  and  will  not  rise  out  of  it.  The  simple  fact  is, 
much  of  this  poverty  and  helplessness  is  due  to  causes 
over  which  the  individual  has  no  control.  The  little 
child,  driven  by  its  parents  to  work  in  the  mills  and  mines 
in  foul  and  unhealthf.il  conditions,  is  in  no  position  to  rise 
out  of  those  conditions  and  become  either  a  scholar  or  a 
farmer.  The  child  born  in  a  crowded  tenement  with 
weakened  vitality  and  weighted  will  can  never  rise  by 
his  unaided  efforts.  In  our  modern  society,  from  one 
cause  and  another,  the  denizen  of  the  slums  is  actually 
walled  in,  and  so  is  debarred  from  many  fields  of  aspira- 
tion. One  may  preach  to  these  people  the  gospel  of  self- 
help  and  personal  goodness ;  but  the  fact  remains  that 
much  of  this  preaching  falls  short  of  its  full  results ; 
indeed,  much  of  it  is  as  inane  in  spirit  as  it  is  false  in 


392 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


method.  By  all  means  let  men  seek  to  arouse  in  these 
people  an  inward  hungering  after  the  ideal  and  teach 
them  the  value  of  individual  initiative;  by  all  means  let 
society  refuse  to  do  for  these  people  what  they  orty  can 
do  for  themselves.  But  let  us  know  also  that  the  gospel 
of  self-help  alone  can  never  fully  avail  in  these  lives; 
let  us  remember  that  no  cruelty  can  be  greater  than  to 
expect  man  to  do  that  which  no  man  can  do  unaided. 
The  man  who  attributes  all  the  poverty  and  crime  of  the 
social  delinquents  and  defectives  to  their  individual  dis- 
credit is  neither  clear-sighted  nor  wise-hearted. 

The  more  carefully  we  study  the  whole  life  of  man  the 
more  clearly  do  we  see  that  this  purpose  ox  the  State  to 
give  each  person  a  fair  inheritance  in  society  is  a  social 
task  and  can  never  be  fulfilled  by  individual  action  alone. 
This  is  made  very  clear  in  such  writings  as  "  The  Rela- 
tion of  the  State  to  Industrial  Action,"  by  Prof.  H.  C. 
Adams  ;  "  The  Social  Problem,"  by  John  Hobson ;  "  Ap- 
plied Sociology,"  by  Prof.  Lester  F.  Ward ;  and  "  Soci- 
ology," by  President  Bascom.  And  in  view  of  all  the 
factors  involved  in  this  task  we  are  forced  to  the  con- 
clusion that  all  the  institutions  of  man's  life  must  co- 
operate to  the  one  end.  Since  this  is  so,  the  State  that  is 
becoming  intelligent  and  Christian  will  seek  a  wise  and 
steady  co-operation  with  the  other  institutions  of  man's 
life,  the  family,  and  the  church,  that  all  together  they 
may  create  conditions  in  which  noble  lives  shall  be 
nourished  and  a  social  order  insured  in  which  every  soul 
shall  have  a  true  inheritance.  This  aim  is  as  novel  as  it  is 
audacious,  but  this  is  the  aim  which  society  must  seriously 
and  steadily  set  before  itself. 

Three  things  combine  to  define  and  emphasize  this 
task.  First,  the  Father's  bounties  are  for  all  his  children ; 
and  there  is  plenty  and  to  spare  in  his  house.  It  is  not 
his  will  that  one  of  his  little  ones  should  come  short  of 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  393 

any  of  these  bounties,  but  the  rather  abound  in  them  all. 
Secondly,  the  State,  in  the  Christian  conception  of  it,  is  a 
kind  of  mutual  aid  society,  wherein  the  resources  of  all  are 
held  in  pledge  for  the  welfare  and  blessing  of  each ;  it  is 
the  highest  function  of  the  State  to  take  thought  for  every 
child  and  to  give  him  a  fair  inheritance.  Thirdly,  the 
very  idea  of  democracy  implies  the  Christian  and  fra- 
ternal type  of  State ;  for  democracy  is  a  confession  of 
brotherhood;  it  is  based  upon  the  worth  of  man,  and  it  is 
the  equal  recognition  of  mutual  obligations.  These  central 
truths  of  Christianity,  these  fundamental  ideas  of  democ- 
racy, are  principles  of  social  and  political  action  no  less 
than  of  individual  effort  and  church  policy ;  and  hence 
they  are  to  determine  the  aims  and  efforts  of  the  State 
no  less  than  those  of  the  church  and  the  individual.  And 
so  it  follows  that  in  the  democratic  State  that  is  motived 
by  the  spirit  of  Christ  a  collective  and  continuous  effort 
must  be  made  to  keep  the  door  of  opportunity  open  before 
every  man  and  to  make  it  possible  for  each  to  develop  his 
possibilities  to  the  full.  It  must  make  it  impossible  for 
any  person  within  its  borders  to  grow  up  in  ignorance  and 
poverty,  to  be  unprivileged  and  disinherited,  to  be  stunted 
and  deformed  and  destitute  of  the  things  that  make  for 
the  highest  good.  In  short,  in  a  State  that  is  becoming 
Christian  and  democratic,  there  is  a  genuine  interest  in 
all  with  a  conscious  and  organized  effort  to  bring  the 
outcasts  into  the  family  circle,  to  give  them  an  outlook 
into  the  highest  life,  to  bring  the  highest  goods  within 
reach  of  the  downmost  soul,  and  to  lift  up  this  down- 
most  soul  into  the  possession  and  appreciation  of  his  her- 
itage. And  all  this,  it  may  be  said,  is  not  a  matter  of 
choice,  but  a  plain  necessity,  being  implied  in  the  Chris- 
tian faith  and  the  democratic  creed. 

All  these  aims  and  objects,  we  may  be  told,  are 
already  recognized,  in  part  at  least,  in  the  best  legisla- 


394 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


tion  and  policy  of  the  more  advanced  nations,  such  as 
Germany,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States.  This, 
we  readily  and  gladly  admit,  and  in  all  that  we  have  said, 
we  have  simply  sought  to  define  and  apply  some  principles 
that  are  more  or  less  recognized  by  the  more  progressive 
peoples  that  profess  the  faith  of  Christ  and  accept  the 
democratic  idea.  But,  withal,  the  fact  remains  that  these 
principles  are  but  imperfectly  understood  and  partially 
applied.  And  so  the  need  demands  that  these  principles 
be  interpreted  anew  in  every  generation,  and  thus  inter- 
preted be  given  an  ever  wider  and  more  resolute  applica- 
tion. 

VII.  The  Steady  Determination  to  Exalt  Man  and  to 
Make  Wealth  a  Means  and  Not  an  End.  This  is  not  by 
any  means  the  common  aim  on  the  part  of  the  State 
to-day,  nor  of  the  mass  of  individuals.  In  all  the  great 
nations  of  the  past  the  rank  and  file  have  had  no  mean- 
ing or  value  save  in  their  relation  to  kings  and  nobles. 
The  great  mass  of  the  people  were  regarded  as  fertilizer 
around  the  roots  of  a  few  fine  specimens  of  humanity ; 
and  when  these  specimen  plants  were  produced  the  whole 
process  was  justified.  In  modern  times  we  have  changed 
this  estimate  somewhat.  In  the  democratic  State  there  is 
a  new  appraisal  of  man's  worth,  and  the  common  man  is 
beginning  to  have  some  meaning  in  the  total  sum.  Mod- 
ern society,  in  theory  at  least,  has  accepted  the  Christian 
view  of  man,  and  has  declared  that  his  life  has  a  value. 
It  has  made  the  average  man  a  citizen  and  sought  to 
create  within  him  a  sovereign's  consciousness. 

And  yet  it  may  be  seriously  questioned  whether  our 
modern  estimate,  in  its  practical  applications,  is  one  whit 
higher  and  worthier  than  the  ancient  valuation.  A  system 
of  philosophy  is  at  once  the  determiner  of  a  people's  faith 
and  a  definition  of  a  people's  practice.  In  these  modern 
times  there  has  grown  up  a  study  that  calls  itself  the 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  395 

science  of  political  economy;  and  this  study,  it  is  con- 
fessed by  its  exponents,  is  concerned  with  the  one 
question — the  production  of  wealth.  In  this  science  the 
money  standard  of  value  is  supreme,  and  everything  is 
rated  by  it.  The  principles  of  this  science  have  invaded 
other  departments  of  life,  and  as  a  consequence  the  money 
standard  has  held  almost  unlimited  sway  over  man's  social 
and  political  life.  One  does  not  much  wonder,  therefore, 
that  Carlyle  should  characterize  this  economic  doctrine  as 
"  That  Dismal  Science."  And  one  does  not  wonder  either 
that  Ruskin  should  flame  out  against  this  conception  of 
man,  and  should  declare  that  the  model  man  of  this 
dismal  science  was  fit  only  to  sit  for  the  portrait  of  a  lost 
soul.  There  are  many  passions  of  the  human  heart,  the 
love  of  money  and  the  desire  for  power,  which  have  been 
fostered  and  excused  by  this  doctrine  of  wealth,  and  as  a 
result  modern  society  has  set  up  its  gods  of  Mammon  and 
has  made  the  money  standard  supreme.  Our  whole 
civilization,  says  Felix  Adler,  is  infiltrated  with  the 
money-getting  idea.  A  brutal  and  soulless  capitalism  is 
getting  control  of  modern  production  and  distribution, 
and  is  using  the  machinery  of  government  to  further  its 
own  ends.  "  In  so  far  as  this  capitalism  is  in  control  of 
the  standards  of  business  action,  it  is  reducing  the  march 
of  human  progress  to  marking  time  in  the  lock-step  of 
a  chain  gang."  "  The  whole  programme  of  our  modern 
civilization  turns  at  last  on  a  calculation  of  effects  upon 
the  accumulation  of  capital ;  a  programme  fit  for  a  Chris- 
tian civilization  would  turn  rather  upon  its  effects  on  the 
quality  of  men  that  civilization  shall  produce.  .  .  We  have 
our  modern  way  of  turning  moral  values  upside  down. 
We  are  making  men  the  means  of  making  capital, 
whereas  capital  is  only  tolerable  when  it  is  simply  and 
solely  a  means  of  making  men.  It  would  be  infinitely  to 
the  advantage  of  men  if  every  dollar  of  wealth  should  be 


396 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


cleaned  off  the  earth,  provided  we  could  have  in  its  place 
industry  and  honesty  and  justice  and  love  and  faith, 
rather  than  to  be  led  much  further  into  this  devil's  dance 
of  capitalism"  (Professor  Small,  "The  Outlook,"  June 
17,  1899).  And  this,  he  reminds  us,  is  not  the  familiar 
rant  of  the  professional  agitator,  nor  the  easy  generaliza- 
tion of  the  huckster  of  vain  sensations.  Some  years  ago  a 
noted  scientist  of  England  declared  that  the  greatness  of 
England  was  due  beyond  all  other  causes  to  the  abundance 
and  cheapness  of  her  coal.  If  it  be  so,  said  Ruskin,  then 
ashes  to  ashes  be  her  epitaph,  and  the  sooner  the  better. 
At  a  political  gathering  some  years  ago  a  noted  speaker 
declared :  "  No  issue  ever  gets  above  the  bread  and 
butter  issue."   And  the  people  applauded. 

In  the  true  and  Christian  conception  of  things,  man  is 
the  end,  and  all  other  things  are  means.  In  this  true 
and  Christian  conception  of  the  State  also  human  life  is 
the  supreme  value,  and  all  other  things  are  brought  to 
this  standard.  This  is  so  evident  to  the  one  who  reads  the 
New  Testament  that  it  seems  needless  to  amplify  or  prove 
it.  Things  are  here  for  the  sake  of  man,  and  not  man 
for  the  sake  of  things.  A  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the 
abundance  of  the  things  which  he  possesseth.  Man  does 
not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  of  the  Lord 
does  man  live.  And  the  same  is  true  of  the  State.  A 
people's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things 
which  it  possesses.  A  people  does  not  live  by  bread 
alone,  but  by  the  things  of  the  spirit  and  the  word  of  God. 
The  end  of  the  State,  said  Aristotle,  is  not  life  alone,  but 
good  life ;  whence  it  follows  that  virtue  is  the  serious  care 
of  a  State  that  truly  deserves  the  name.  Let  there  be 
worse  cotton,  said  Emerson,  and  better  men  ("The 
Method  of  Nature  "). 

In  a  State  that  is  becoming  Christian,  man  is  regarded 
as  the  end,  and  all  other  things  are  valued  as  means  to 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  397 

this  end.  In  a  society  that  is  becoming  Christian,  financial 
questions,  such  as  the  tariff  and  railroads,  revenue  and 
manufacture,  the  protection  of  sheep  and  the  extension 
of  markets,  will  receive  relatively  less  and  less  attention, 
while  vital  questions,  such  as  education  and  child  labor, 
temperance  and  morality,  will  receive  relatively  more  and 
more.  In  a  city  that  is  becoming  Christian,  questions  of 
paving  and  franchises,  corporations  and  business,  will# 
more  and  more  fall  into  the  background,  and  questions  of 
homes  for  the  people,  sanitary  tenements,  moral  environ- 
ment, and  spiritual  welfare,  will  more  come  into  the 
foreground.  In  a  nation  that  is  becoming  Christian  the 
production  of  material  possessions  will  be  regarded  as  a 
means  to  an  end,  and  the  production  of  the  largest  num- 
ber of  healthy  and  moral  men  and  women  will  be  honored 
as  its  chief  glory.  In  a  society  that  is  becoming  Christian 
there  is  an  ever  truer  and  higher  appreciation  of  man's 
true  life,  and  less  and  less  are  men  being  concerned  with 
things  such  as  property  and  bank  accounts.  As  society 
becomes  more  Christian  the  great  outstanding  features 
of  the  Holy  City  will  appear  in  the  societies  of  earth. 
And  more  and  more  men  will  be  the  ends,  and  wealth  will 
be  the  means.  And  thus,  little  by  little,  the  gold  of  the 
nation  will  be  put  down  under  foot  to  form  the  pavements 
of  the  city  of  God,  and  made  to  serve  the  true  life  of  man. 
One  had  rather  think  of  this  earth  as  a  shining  planet  in 
the  divine  galaxy  on  which  God's  children  aspire  after 
ideal  ends,  than  to  think  of  it  as  a  dirt  ball  whose  sign  is 
a  dollar  mark  and  inhabited  by  a  race  of  creatures  whose 
only  mission  is  to  create  wealth.  In  the  last  analysis  the 
worth  of  every  civilization  and  the  value  of  every  society 
must  be  measured  by  the  man  who  is  both  its  center  and 
its  product. 

VIII.  All  the  aims  and  efforts  thus  far  considered  sum 
themselves  up  in  one  comprehensive  and  synthetic  aim 


398 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


and  effort :  The  political  vision  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  the  collective  effort  to  realize  that  kingdom  on  the 
earth. 

Thus  far  in  the  political  life  of  man  there  has  been  little 
vision  of  the  great  end  of  the  State,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  metapolitical  element  has  been  almost  entirely  want- 
ing. The  great  mass  of  the  people  have  lived  without  any 
vision  beyond  the  day,  and  they  have  sought  only  the 
things  in  plain  sight.  There  has  been  no  synthetic  pro- 
gramme of  social  action  which  the  whole  people  might 
follow  in  their  search  for  the  kingdom.  For  this  reason 
one  is  not  surprised  to  find  that  men  have  built  their 
States  without  the  inspiration  of  the  ideal ;  nor  is  he  sur- 
prised to  know  that  they  have  made  little  collective  effort 
to  realize  the  kingdom  of  God  in  this  present  world. 

It  is  just  here  that  we  perceive  one  of  the  most  note- 
worthy characteristics  of  the  Christian  State  and  find 
one  of  the  most  hopeful  signs  of  these  modern  times. 
There  is  coming  to  men  a  vision  of  the  divine  goal  of 
the  State ;  and  there  is  growing  in  them  a  collective  desire 
to  seek  this  goal.  As  a  consequence  they  are  beginning 
to  feel  the  evils  of  the  world  as  men  have  never  felt 
them  before ;  they  are  beginning  to  ask  whether  these 
evils  are  necessary  and  inevitable ;  they  are  beginning  to 
search  into  causes ;  and  they  are  seeking  for  some  pro- 
gramme in  which  they  all  can  unite  in  their  effort  to 
promote  the  progress  of  society.  They  are  beginning 
to  realize  that  mankind  is  one  family,  and  they  are  learn- 
ing to  think  of  the  State  as  an  agency  of  God  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  his  bounties  to  his  children  and  as  a  medium 
through  which  his  purpose  is  fulfilled  in  the  earth.  In 
fine,  they  are  beginning  to  realize  that  the  State  has  no 
other  business  in  the  world  than  to  repeat  in  its  life  and 
organize  in  its  order  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  kingdom  of  God. 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  399 

The  three  lines  oi  inquiry  running  through  our  study 
converge  at  one  point  and  make  very  plain  the  way  that 
men  must  now  take.  The  State  has  one  great  end  to 
seek  in  the  world,  and  that  is  to  organize  and  incarnate 
in  the  social  and  political  life  of  man  the  righteousness, 
the  peace,  and  the  joy  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  This 
mission  of  the  State  may  be  looked  at  from  below  or 
from  above,  but  the  end  is  one.  Looked  at  from  be- 
low it  is  here  to  serve  the  life  of  man,  to  be  an  agency 
and  means  whereby  the  race  is  blessed  and  man  comes 
to  maturity.  Looked  at  from  above  the  State  has  one 
object,  and  that  is  the  fulfilment  of  God's  gracious 
purpose  concerning  his  human  children ;  and  thus  the 
end  of  government  is  to  apprehend  and  apply  the 
principles  and  laws  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  to 
make  them  regnant  in  human  society.  It  may  be  a  long 
time  before  the  State  will  realize  this  end  and  will  or- 
ganize its  life  in  the  spirit  of  Christ;  it  may  be  a  long 
time  before  men  will  fully  understand  the  axioms  of 
Christ  and  will  observe  the  landmarks  of  the  kingdom 
in  their  social  and  political  life.  But  this  is  the  divine 
meaning  of  the  State,  and  this  is  the  purpose  which 
men  must  resolutely  set  before  themselves.  To  hasten 
on  this  work  is  the  business  of  the  Christian  citizen, 
and  he  has  no  other  real  business  here  below.  To  seek 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  its  righteousness  in  this  pres- 
ent world  and  to  build  up  in  the  earth  the  city  of  God, 
is  the  chief  duty  of  society,  and  it  becomes  Christian  in 
so  far  as  it  seeks  this  end.  In  the  great  words  of  Im- 
manuel  Fichte,  "  Christianity  is  destined  some  day  to 
become  the  inner  organizing  power  of  the  State."  In 
the  no  less  significant  words  of  De  Laveleye  we  may 
say :  "  There  is  in  human  affairs  one  order  which  is 
best.  That  order  is  not  always  the  one  which  exists, 
but  it  is  the  order  which  should  exist  for  the  greatest 


400 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


good  of  humanity.  God  knows  it  and  wills  it;  man's 
duty  it  is  to  discover  and  establish  it."  One  thing  is 
certain  beyond  peradventure :  our  social  and  political 
practice  must  either  conform  to  our  ethical  philosophy 
and  our  religious  ideals;  or  our  ethical  philosophy  and 
our  religious  ideals  will  conform  to  our  social  and  po- 
litical practice.  That  is,  Christian  men  must  either  cast 
away  the  Christian  ideal  of  society,  or  they  must  seek 
to  realize  that  ideal  in  their  political  institutions. 

In  saying  all  this,  in  cherishing  the  hope  of  the 
Christian  State,  we  do  not  indulge  in  Utopian  dreams 
nor  expect  any  impossible  results.  We  know  all  too 
well  the  difficulties  that  lie  in  the  way  to  Utopia ;  we 
measure  fully  all  the  delays  that  must  be  endured. 
"  We  know  well  that  there  is  no  perfection  for  man  in 
this  life ;  there  is  only  growth  toward  perfection.  In 
personal  religion  we  look  with  seasoned  suspicion  at 
any  one  who  claims  to  be  holy  and  perfect;  yet  we 
always  tell  men  to  become  holy  and  seek  perfection.  We 
make  it  a  duty  to  seek  what  is  unattainable.  We  have 
the  same  paradox  in  the  perfectibility  of  society.  We 
shall  never  have  a  perfect  society,  yet  we  must  seek  it 
with  faith.  .  .  At  best  there  is  always  but  an  approxima- 
tion to  a  perfect  social  order.  The  kingdom  of  God  is 
always  coming  "  (Rauschenbusch,  "  Christianity  and  the 
Social  Crisis,"  pp.  420,  421).  This  vision  of  the  ideal 
and  this  approximation  toward  it  is  the  sign  that  the 
State  is  becoming  Christian.  There  is  no  one  reform,  we 
fully  admit,  which  will  mean  the  reform  of  society ;  there 
is  no  one  abuse  which,  if  corrected,  would  insure  the  hap- 
piness and  peace  of  mankind ;  there  is  no  set  of  laws,  no 
system  of  government  which  can  alone  bring  in  the  mil- 
lennium ;  there  is  no  hour  in  all  the  future  of  the  race 
when  one  can  say  that  the  world  is  perfect  and  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  fully  come.   And  yet  there  is  a  vast  amount 


THE  PROGRAMME  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  4OI 

of  remediable  wrong;  there  are  a  hundred  abuses  that 
can  be  corrected  and  their  correction  will  clear  the  way  of 
progress.  The  world  can  be  made  better,  and  we  are 
to  set  about  it  in  a  wise  and  hopeful  spirit.  Something 
can  be  done,  and  not  to  do  this  is  to  convict  ourselves  of 
high  treason  against  the  kingdom  of  God.  Any  experi- 
ment that  will  improve  by  a  hair's  breadth  the  condition  of 
a  single  human  being  is  well  worth  trying.  Any  effort 
that  will  help  a  single  soul  in  any  way,  is  the  translation 
into  deed  of  some  article  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  only 
men  for  whom  Christ  had  no  hope,  and  for  whom  the 
future  holds  no  promise,  are  the  dead  souls  who  are 
satisfied  with  the  world  and  do  not  believe  in  social 
progress.  The  one  failure  in  life  which  has  no  com- 
pensation and  no  cure  is  the  failure  of  the  man  who 
has  no  ideal,  and  does  not  believe  in  a  fairer  to-morrow. 
The  one  success  in  life  which  has  no  shadow  and  no 
equal  is  the  success  of  the  man  who  cherishes  this  divine 
ideal  and  seeks  to  lead  his  fellows  toward  the  sun- 
rising.  It  may  be  a  mistake  to  have  an  ideal  that  is 
too  high;  but  it  is  a  misfortune,  yea,  it  is  a  crime  to 
have  no  ideal  at  all. 


2A 


XV 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

HE  State,  in  some  form,  is  a  universal  phenomenon. 


-L  Democracy,  so  the  facts  indicate,  is  acquiring  such 
an  irresistible  momentum  that  its  world-wide  extension  is 
only  a  question  of  time.  Christianity,  its  followers 
believe,  is  the  one  religion  that  possesses  the  marks 
of  universality  and  finality.  The  State,  we  have 
reason  to  believe,  is  destined  to  wax  rather  than  wane 
in  its  influence  and  importance.  Democracy,  as  the 
best  students  of  history  agree,  is  a  Christian  product; 
and  what  is  more  significant,  democracy  must  become 
real  as  Christianity  becomes  regnant.  Is  it  possible 
for  the  State  to  become  Christian,  and  for  Christianity 
to  become  political,  and  for  both  the  State  and  Christi- 
anity to  become  democratic  in  spirit  and  form?  These 
questions,  it  may  be  said,  are  among  the  most  inter- 
esting and  vital  that  man  can  ask,  and  upon  their  right 
solution  depend  a  hundred  questions  in  the  life  of  man 
and  the  progress  of  society. 

The  time  has  come  for  us  to  gather  up  the  threads 
of  our  study  and  to  mark  their  relation  to  one  another. 
In  the  first  division  we  considered  the  nature  and 
origin  of  the  State,  and  noted  some  of  its  functions  and 
ideals.  We  saw  that  the  State  grows  out  of  the  nature 
of  man,  that  it  is  necessary  to  him,  and  that  it  has  im- 
portant functions  to  fulfil  in  the  economy  of  life.  In 
the  second  division  we  considered  the  forms  of  the 
State,  noting  especially  the  rise  and  development  of 
democracy,  attempting  to  define  in  part  its  meaning  and 


402 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  403 

to  indicate  some  of  its  tasks.  We  found  that  democ- 
racy is  a  product  of  the  Christian  spirit,  that  it  is  a 
confession  in  social  and  political  relations  of  the  great 
fact  of  brotherhood,  and  that  in  the  fundamental  truths 
of  Christianity  it  has  both  its  validity  and  its  vitality. 
In  the  third  division  we  are  concerned  with  the  rela- 
tion between  Christianity  and  the  State,  with  the  special 
tasks  that  confront  a  Christian  society,  closing  with  the 
realization  in  the  world  of  the  Christian  democracy. 
We  find  that  in  Christianity  we  have  the  ideal  of  a 
human  society  on  earth,  jthat  Christianity  is  no  less 
social  than  personal,  and  that  it  will  not  have  its  perfect 
work  till  it  has  created  the  city  of  God  among  men. 
We  find  also  that  the  State  has  some  great  goal  toward 
which  it  is  moving;  that  as  society  becomes  more  Chris- 
tian in  spirit  it  becomes  more  democratic  in  form,  and 
that  the  State  needs  Christianity  to  be  its  informing  and 
vitalizing  spirit,  as  Christianity  needs  the  State  to  be 
one  of  the  spheres  of  its  manifestation  and  power.  Thus 
we  find  that  the  three  lines  of  study  all  converge  at 
the  one  point,  and  this  point  of  convergence  must  be 
noted. 

The  State  is  here  as  a  recognized  fact  and  force  in 
the  life  of  man,  and  we  are  convinced  that  it  has  some 
human  meaning  and  divine  end.  In  the  Christian  con- 
ception we  have  a  great  ideal  for  man  and  for  society,  and 
in  it  the  State  plays  an  important  part.  What  then  is 
the  relation  between  the  Christian  ideal  and  the  political 
State?  Is  there  any  real  and  necessary  relation  between 
them,  or  must  they  ever  lie  in  different  realms?  What 
are  the  aims  which  the  Christian  who  is  a  citizen  should 
set  before  himself?  And  what  are  the  results  which  we 
may  expect  Christianity  to  achieve  in  the  realm  of  man's 
social  and  political  life?  These  are  some  of  the  urgent 
and  practical  questions  of  to-day,  and  upon  their  right 


404 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


solution  depend  many  things  in  man's  thought  and  action. 
By  the  very  nature  of  the  case  it  is  impossible  for  men 
to  live  permanently  and  harmoniously  under  a  divided 
allegiance.  They  must  therefore  either  lower  their  re- 
ligious ideal  to  the  level  of  their  political  life,  or  they 
must  raise  their  political  life  till  it  shall  synchronize  with 
their  religious  ideal.  This  means  that  they  must  either 
make  the  State  Christian,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term, 
or  they  must  abandon  the  Christian  ideal  as  an  im- 
practicable dream. 

I.  The  Political  State  and  the  Perfection  of  Man.  There 
are  two  or  three  questions  that  must  be  answered  before 
we  shall  be  in  a  position  to  understand  the  nature  of  the 
Christian  State  or  to  define  the  special  tasks  of  the 
Christian  citizen.  Can  the  State  ever  become  Christian? 
What  is  the  relation  between  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the 
political  State  ?  What  is  implied  in  the  progress  and  per- 
fection of  man? 

i.  Can  the  State  ever  become  Christian?  There  are 
many  who  have  maintained  very  positively  that  the 
State  never  can  become  Christian ;  for  Christianity,  it  is 
asserted,  belongs  to  one  sphere  of  life,  while  the  State 
concerns  itself  with  interests  that  lie  in  a  different  sphere. 
Men  have  cherished  the  conception  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  they  have  been  members  of  the  political  State ; 
but  withal  they  have  seen  little  real  relation  between  the 
two;  on  the  contrary  they  have  regarded  the  one  as  the 
antithesis  of  the  other.  They  have  thought  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  the  political  State  as  exclusive 
magnitudes,  and  so  they  have  construed  the  interests  of 
the  two  in  wholly  different  categories. 

Thus,  in  the  name  of  what  may  be  called  the  personal 
conception  of  the  kingdom  men  have  contended  that 
Christianity  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  political  State. 
With  many  persons,   from  the  first  century  to  the 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  405 

twentieth,  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  God  has  connoted 
a  wholly  subjective  and  individual  good.  The  kingdom  of 
God  is  within  you,  men  have  said,  and  hence  it  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  such  things  as  political  States  and  social 
reforms.  Our  citizenship  is  in  heaven,  they  have  declared, 
and  so  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  politics  of  earth. 
They  have  hence  narrowed  their  horizon  to  the  personal 
life,  and  have  concerned  themselves  very  little  with  what 
they  are  pleased  to  call  "  secular  politics."  In  this  con- 
ception it  is  evident  that  the  perfection  of  man  has  no 
necessary  relation  to  the  perfection  of  the  State;  in  fact, 
the  perfect  State  is  an  absurdity ;  as  men  become  Chris- 
tian the  State  will  pass  away  and  be  known  no  more 
forever. 

Again,  in  the  name  of  the  ecclesiastical  conception  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  men  have  maintained  that  Chris- 
tianity has  little  to  do  with  political  matters.  In  this  con- 
ception the  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God  is  narrowed  down 
to  the  dimensions  of  the  Christian  church ;  the  bound- 
aries of  the  two  magnitudes  are  made  conterminous; 
and  hence  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  is  the  making 
of  the  church.  In  this  conception  whatever  interest  of 
life  does  not  fall  within  the  boundaries  of  the  church  lies 
outside  the  kingdom ;  and  hence  the  extra-ecclesiastical 
interests  have  little  relation  to  the  kingdom;  and  so  it 
follows  that  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  has  no  relation 
to  the  development  of  the  State.  All  through  the  cen- 
turies these  conceptions  have  appeared,  now  here,  now 
there,  sometimes  clearly  expressed,  more  often  silently 
implied.  Many  of  the  early  Christians,  as  we  know, 
thought  lightly  of  the  State,  and  gave  it  no  place  in  the 
ultimate  purpose  of  God;  many  regarded  it  with  sus- 
picion and  fear,  and  looked  upon  it  as  an  alien  realm 
with  which  Christ  had  nothing  to  do.  The  political 
State  in  all  such  views  has  little  relation  to  the  kingdom 


406 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


of  God,  and  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  means  the  un- 
making of  the  State. 

There  are  many,  both  within  and  without  the  church, 
who  file  an  objection  against  this  whole  discussion  of 
the  Christian  State,  and  this  objection  we  must  note. 
Every  picture  requires  a  background;  thus  against  the 
objection  brought  against  this  conception  we  may  behold 
the  outlines  of  the  Christian  State.  The  Christian  State, 
we  are  assured,  is  a  contradiction  in  terms,  and  the  build- 
ing of  such  a  State  is  a  forlorn  hope.  The  State  is  made 
up  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men,  and  for  this 
reason  it  must  forever  fall  short  of  the  perfection  of  the 
kingdom.  The  kingdom  means  perfection,  and  the  State 
is  composed  of  people  at  all  stages  of  moral  worth  and 
social  power.  Beyond  all  this  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
something  that  comes  to  men,  and  not  something  that 
can  be  built  by  men ;  something  that  persuades,  not  any- 
thing that  forces;  and  though  men  may  do  something  to 
prepare  for  the  kingdom,  they  yet  cannot  make  the  king- 
dom. For  these  and  many  other  reasons,  it  is  contended, 
the  Christianization  of  the  State  is  a  contradiction  in 
terms,  and  we  should  cease  all  such  misleading  discus- 
sions. Just  so  far  as  the  State  becomes  Christian  it 
ceases  to  be  political.  Just  so  far  as  the  State  remains 
political  it  is  not  Christian.  Respecting  this,  one  or  two 
things  may  be  noted. 

In  many  of  these  objections  to  the  idea  of  the  Chris- 
tian State,  there  lurks  a  fallacy  which  shows  a  total  mis- 
apprehension of  Christianity ;  and  some  of  the  objections, 
pious  as  they  may  sound,  are  little  other  than  transparent 
pharisaism.  There  are  Christian  men  in  the  world,  one 
likes  to  believe;  but  there  are  no  perfect  men,  as  far 
as  one  can  observe.  In  men,  in  the  best  of  men,  there 
are  always  some  things  to  be  cast  off  and  some  advances 
to  be  made.    The  Christian  man  is  one  who  is  being 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  407 

saved,  and  he  is  to  be  judged  not  so  much  by  what  he 
now  is  as  by  what  he  is  coming  to  be.  Again,  there  are 
Christian  churches  in  the  world  one  likes  to  believe,  but 
there  is  no  church,  so  far  as  man  can  discover,  which  is 
wholly  Christian.  If  by  a  Christian  church  we  mean  a 
company  of  perfect  people  with  a  perfect  organization, 
then  no  such  church  exists  or  has  ever  existed.  In  the 
churches — in  every  church  known  to  man — there  are 
members  at  all  stages  of  immaturity  and  growth,  and  the 
church  that  claims  to  be  wholly  perfect  and  mature  is 
guilty  of  an  impudence  that  would  shock  a  Pharisee. 
The  Christian  church  is  a  body  that  is  becoming  Chris- 
tian, and  it  is  to  be  judged,  not  so  much  by  what  it  is  as 
by  what  it  is  coming  to  be.  The  same  test  may  be  ap- 
plied to  the  State,  and  with  precisely  the  same  results. 
There  is  no  State  that  is  fully  Christian  except  in  the 
perfervid  imagination  of  some  dreamer,  and  the  Chris- 
tian State,  so  far  as  we  can  prophesy,  is  still  far  in  the 
future.  But,  if  it  is  fair  to  speak  of  Christian  man  and 
the  Christian  church,  it  is  no  less  fair  to  speak  of  the 
Christian  State,  and  for  precisely  the  same  reasons. 
The  Christian  State  is  a  State  that  is  becoming  Christian, 
and  it  is  to  be  judged,  not  so  much  by  what  it  is  as 
by  what  it  is  coming  to  be. 

In  much  of  the  current  discussion  concerning  Chris- 
tianity and  its  expressions  there  lurks  a  subtle  fallacy 
that  vitiates  many  of  our  arguments  and  conclusions. 
There  are  some  things  that  ought  to  be  self-evident  after 
all  these  centuries  of  Christian  teaching  and  practice.  For 
one  thing,  we  have  learned  that  the  mere  profession  of 
the  Christian  faith  does  not  by  any  means  make  one  a 
Christian.  For  he  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one  outwardly, 
says  Paul,  but  the  only  circumcision  that  has  meaning 
is  the  circumcision  of  the  heart.  In  like  manner  the  mere 
assumption  of  the  Christian  name  does  not  constitute  one 


408 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


a  Christian.  "  If  any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
he  is  none  of  his."'  We  have  learned  that  a  man  is  not  a 
Christian  because  he  subscribes  to  a  certain  creed  or  be- 
longs to  a  certain  church ;  neither  is  a  man  a  Christian  be- 
cause he  has  attained  unto  the  ideal  or  is  already  perfect 
He  is  a  Christian  who  has  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  is 
interested  in  the  things  that  interest  Christ.  For  another 
thing  we  have  learned  that  the  mere  incorporation  of  an 
organization  under  the  Christian  name  does  not  by  any 
means  make  a  people  a  Christian  church.  "  But  the  true 
and  grand  idea  of  a  church,"  says  Thomas  Arnold,  "  is 
that  of  a  society  for  making  men  like  Christ,  earth  like 
heaven,  and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  the  kingdom  of 
God"  ("Life,"  Let.  cxiij.  We  have  discovered  also 
that  a  church  is  not  necessarily  Christian  because  it 
possesses  an  orthodox  creed  or  administers  certain  ordi- 
nances in  an  apostolic  way ;  neither  is  a  church  Christian 
because  of  any  apostolic  succession  with  a  clear  line  of 
continuity  to  the  apostolic  age  and  with  a  regular  set  of 
officers  to  duplicate  the  early  church.  But  a  church  is 
Christian  when  it  has  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  manifests 
the  apostolic  zeal  and  love.  We  may  conclude  also,  that 
a  State  does  not  become  Christian  when  it  incorporates 
the  name  of  Christ  in  its  constitution  or  opens  the  ses- 
sions of  Congress  with  prayer;  neither  is  a  State  Chris- 
tian when  certain  theological  ideas  are  embodied  in 
its  legislation  and  certain  ecclesiastical  functionaries  dic- 
tate the  policy  of  cabinets.  In  any  real  sense  a  State  is 
Christian  when  it  possesses  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  seeks 
certain  great  Christian  ends  in  and  through  its  life  and 
service. 

The  conclusion  is  plain,  and  its  bearing  upon  the  ques- 
tion before  us  is  no  less  plain.  There  are  certain  great 
marks  that  in  a  way  are  characteristic  of  Christianity 
wherever  it  appears,  whether  in  the  man,  in  the  church. 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  409 

or  in  the  State.  As  there  is  a  peculiar  life  and  spirit  in 
the  Christian  man  with  certain  aspirations  and  ideals ;  as 
there  is  a  peculiar  life  and  spirit  in  the  Christian  church 
with  certain  definite  purposes  and  methods ;  so  there  is  a 
peculiar  life  and  spirit  in  the  Christian  State  with  certain 
marked  characteristics  and  aims.  As  the  man  who  bears 
the  Christian  name  possesses  this  peculiar  Christian 
character  in  its  beginnings  at  least ;  as  the  church  that 
bears  the  Christian  name  manifests  certain  qualities  in  an 
ever-increasing  degree,  so  the  State  that  is  becoming 
Christian  bears  certain  definite  characteristics  in  all  its 
forms  and  features.  As  the  sanctification  of  the  Christian 
believer  is  his  progressive  growth  into  the  likeness  of 
Christ ;  as  the  progress  of  the  Christian  church  is  meas- 
ured by  its  ever-growing  power  for  service ;  so  the  ma- 
king of  the  Christian  State  is  the  development  and  inten- 
sification of  the  Christian  characteristics  in  its  life  and 
functions. 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  which,  in  a  way,  lies 
beyond  and  beneath  all  of  these  other  questions ;  till  this 
is  answered  we  shall  find  no  clue  to  the  problem ;  light 
here  is  light  all  along  the  way.  This  question  we  must 
now  consider. 

2.  What  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  what  is  the  rela- 
tion between  the  kingdom  and  the  political  State?  In 
another  study  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  the  writer 
has  considered  the  first  part  of  this  question,  and  the 
argument  of  that  study  need  not  be  reproduced  here. 
The  kingdom  of  God,  it  will  probably  be  admitted  by  all 
in  these  times,  is  the  central  truth  of  Christianity,  at  once 
the  formative  idea  and  the  ethical  center,  the  one  truth 
that  explains  all  other  truths  and  gives  them  meaning. 
This  kingdom  of  God,  it  is  becoming  very  plain,  is  a 
great,  all-comprehensive  idea,  and  defines  at  once  the 
whole  purpose  of  God  for  man,  and  indicates  the  whole 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


progress  of  man  in  the  purpose  of  God.  The  conception 
of  this  kingdom  runs  like  a  thread  of  gold  through  the 
whole  fabric  of  the  Christian  revelation  and  gives  it  unity 
and  power.  At  first,  it  is  true,  in  the  early  life  of  Israel 
the  idea  is  vague  and  indefinite,  but  as  the  generations 
pass  it  runs  itself  clear  in  the  later  prophetic  hopes.  In 
the  life  and  teaching  of  the  Son  of  man  it  is  brought  out 
into  the  open,  and  is  given  a  very  definite  meaning  and 
form.  All  the  hopes  and  ideals  of  his  people  passed  into 
his  mind  and  heart,  there  to  be  tested  and  appraised,  and 
then  to  come  forth  fulfilled  and  transformed.  In  his 
hands  these  hopes  and  ideals  undergo  such  a  purification 
and  enlargement  that  what  before  was  local  he  makes 
universal,  and  what  was  true  for  Israel  he  shows  is  now 
true  for  the  world.  From  this  time  forward  we  have 
the  same  term,  but  how  much  more  it  connotes !  We 
have  the  same  hope,  but  how  much  larger  it  is !  Then 
this  hope  and  ideal  thus  enlarged  and  universalized  Jesus 
returns  to  his  people  to  become  the  possession  of  mankind 
and  the  inspiration  of  the  race.  The  men  who  lived 
with  Jesus  and  became  his  first  disciples,  for  a  time  at 
least,  shared  the  common  hopes  of  the  people,  and  for  a 
while  sadly  and  persistently  misunderstood  the  Master. 
But  in  course  of  time  this  hope  undergoes  a  gradual 
modification,  and  the  whole  later  New  Testament  illus- 
trates the  steady  unfolding  of  this  idea  in  the  thought  and 
life  of  the  early  church.  In  the  later  Epistles  of  Paul  we 
find  the  conception  coming  into  prominence  of  a  justi- 
fied and  reconciled  humanity,  a  renewed  and  transformed 
society  on  earth,  fashioned  according  to  the  will  of  God 
and  filled  with  his  Spirit  (Eph.  2  :  11-22).  In  the 
Apocalpyse  also  the  seer  beholds  the  heavenly  city  com- 
ing down  from  God  out  of  heaven  to  be  set  up  on  earth. 
Beyond  the  present  order  of  things  he  sees  the  walls  of 
the  city  of  God  rising  in  the  earth,  a  city  where  men  live 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  4II 

together  in  peace  and  brotherhood,  a  city  where  all  men 
have  equal  rights  to  the  good  things  of  life,  a  city  into 
which  nothing  enters  that  defiles,  that  works  abomina- 
tion or  that  makes  a  lie,  a  city  where  God  dwells  among 
men  and  men  live  together  as  his  children.  The  king- 
dom of  God,  it  is  evident  to  the  one  who  studies  the 
Scriptures,  means  much  more  than  a  human  society  on 
earth,  but  it  is  certain  that  it  never  means  less. 

To  sum  up :  The  kingdom  of  God  means  the  growing 
perfection  of  the  collective  life  of  humanity,  the  redemp- 
tion of  man's  mental  and  moral  and  spiritual  life — in 
a  word,  the  creation  of  a  perfect  man  in  a  perfect  society. 
In  one  great  synthesis  is  summed  up  the  whole  purpose 
of  God  for  man  and  the  whole  work  of  man  in  the  world. 
In  one  great  synthesis  is  comprehended  the  regeneration 
of  the  soul  and  its  renewal  in  righteousness,  the  quick- 
ening of  the  mind,  and  its  instruction  in  knowledge  and 
truth,  the  Tightening  and  adjustment  of  man's  social  and 
political  relations,  the  upbuilding  and  development  and 
perfection  of  his  body,  the  improvement  of  the  home,  the 
perfection  of  the  church,  the  moralization  of  the  social 
life — in  short,  the  whole  personal,  mental,  moral,  spir- 
itual, physical,  social,  ecclesiastical,  industrial,  and  po- 
litical perfection  of  man.  In  one  great  ideal  is  gathered 
up  the  whole  purpose  of  God  in  the  world,  and  so  the 
kingdom  contemplates  not  alone  the  salvation  and  per- 
fection of  the  person,  but  the  redemption  and  transfor- 
mation of  the  relations  and  institutions  of  his  life,  the 
family,  the  church,  and  the  State.  The  kingdom  of  God 
includes  the  whole  life  of  man,  and  any  conception  of  the 
kingdom  that  ignores  any  relation  of  man's  life  is  by 
that  fact  so  much  less  than  the  Christian  conception. 

3.  What  is  implied  in  the  conception  of  man's  progress 
and  perfection?  In  these  latter  times  the  race  is  gaining 
what  has  been  called  the  sense  of  humanity,  and  a  wholly 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


new  conception  of  solidarity.  The  time  has  been  when 
men  began  their  thinking  with  the  individual,  and  con- 
strued morality  and  progress  in  terms  of  individual  life. 
But  in  these  times  it  has  become  very  evident  that  not 
the  individual,  but  society  is  the  true  unit,  and  that  one 
must  construe  morality  and  progress  in  terms  of  social 
life.  There  must  be  a  society  that  there  may  be  individ- 
uals ;  and  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  persons  are,  only 
because  society  is.  The  life  of  man  is  rooted  in  the  life 
of  humanity.  Without  society  of  some  kind,  the  person 
could  never  be  at  all  in  any  full  and  human  sense ;  and 
without  society  of  some  form  or  kind  his  personality 
could  never  develop  to  any  conscious  and  human  degree. 
The  life  of  one  man  is  made  possible  by  the  lives  of  many 
men,  and  an  isolated  and  abstract  individual — if  such 
were  possible — would  be  a  non-human  monster. 

This  is  not  all,  but  one  life  comes  to  self-realization  in 
and  through  the  lives  of  others  in  social  relations.  Life, 
we  have  learned,  is  a  matter  of  relationships,  and  the 
quality  of  these  relations  determines  the  quality  of  the 
life.  The  one  man  can  advance  toward  personality,  and 
self-realization,  and  salvation  only  by  becoming  a  mem- 
ber of  an  organic  society  and  taking  his  place  in  the 
common  life  (Jones,  "  Social  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,"  p.  77).  The  time  has  gone  by  when  we  can 
think  of  the  extrication  of  the  individual  from  all  human 
relations  and  his  perfection  in  isolation  from  his  fellows. 
The  time  has  come  when  the  one  who  would  think  of 
salvation  in  any  real  and  Christian  sense  must  think  of  it 
as  the  salvation  of  the  whole  man  with  the  perfection 
of  the  relations  that  are  inwrought  into  his  very  being. 
The  salvation  of  the  person  in  all  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  term  involves  the  salvation  of  the  society  of  which 
he  is  a  part.  The  Son  of  man  has  not  come  to  destroy 
but  to  fulfil;  not  to  mutilate  life  but  to  perfect  life;  not 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  4I3 

to  save  men  out  of  the  world,  but  to  save  them  in  the 
world.  It  is  only  as  man  comes  into  relations  with 
others  that  he  arrives  at  knowledge  of  himself,  and  it  is 
only  as  he  attains  to  the  realization  of  the  social  end 
that  he  can  attain  to  the  realization  of  the  personal  end. 
In  the  last  analysis  it  will  be  found  that  these  two  ends, 
the  person  and  the  society,  are  not  really  two  but  one. 
In  so  far  as  we  come  into  relations  with  other  human 
beings  in  the  world,  we  are  attaining  to  a  partial  reali- 
zation of  the  ideal  which  our  rational  nature  sets  before 
us.  And  there  is  no  other  way  by  which  we  can  come  to 
such  realization.  "  It  is  only  in  the  lives  of  other  human 
beings  that  we  can  find  a  world  in  which  we  can  live  at 
home"  (Mackenzie,  "  Introduc.  to  Social  Philos.,"  p. 
260).  The  perfection  of  man  is  his  perfection  in  and 
through  the  relations  of  his  being,  and  any  conception  of 
salvation  that  means  less  than  this  perfection  of  his  social 
life  falls  far  below  the  Christian  conception. 

That  this  is  so  is  made  very  evident  in  the  Christian 
Scriptures.  The  hope  of  the  gospel  is  a  social  and  human 
hope  rather  than  an  individual  and  selfish  hope.  In  the 
Christian  conception  of  life  everything  is  construed  in 
terms  of  the  collective  life  rather  than  the  individual.  In 
the  Christian's  prayer  we  find  that  everything  is  inter- 
preted in  terms  of  the  collective  good;  for  men  are  to 
pray  that  the  Father's  kingdom  may  come,  that  the  Fath- 
er's will  may  be  done,  on  earth  even  as  in  heaven.  Then, 
included  in  these  petitions,  we  find  that  provision  is  made 
for  our  daily  bread,  for  our  deliverance  from  evil,  for 
the  forgiveness  of  our  sins.  Not  for  himself  alone,  but 
for  all  does  the  Christian  pray,  for  he  knows  that  in  the 
blessings  that  come  to  all  he  shall  find  his  own.  In  the 
apostolic  teaching  the  great  truth  of  solidarity  is  made 
very  plain  and  cannot  be  mistaken.  Thus  the  apostle 
defines  the  work  of  Christ  in  terms  of  human  society,  and 


4H 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


never  once  in  terms  of  individual  isolation.  In  his  teach- 
ing the  purpose  of  God  in  the  world  culminates  in  the 
creation  of  a  humanity  that  has  become  the  habitation  of 
God  through  the  Spirit.  He  conceives  of  the  life  of  man 
as  that  of  a  member  in  a  body,  and  the  one  member  is 
saved  in  and  through  the  salvation  of  the  body.  Thus  "  the 
whole  body  fitly  framed  and  compact  together  through 
that  which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  working 
in  due  measure  of  each  several  part,  maketh  the  increase 
of  the  body  unto  the  building  up  of  itself  in  love  "  (Eph. 
4  :  16).  The  apostle  never  thinks  of  salvation  as  a 
purely  individual  gift  that  may  be  enjoyed  in  isolation, 
but  always  in  terms  of  human  relations  and  social  life. 
And  in  the  Apocalypse  this  same  truth  is  even  more  plain. 
It  is  worth  noting  that  Revelation  closes  with  the  concep- 
tion of  a  holy  city  that  has  come  down  from  God  out  of 
heaven  to  be  set  up  on  earth  and  to  be  realized  among  men. 
Humanity  may  have  begun  in  a  garden,  as  the  book  of 
Genesis  suggests,  but  the  life  of  man  culminates  in  a  city, 
as  Revelation  records.  One  may  not  agree  with  Ritschl 
in  all  of  his  positions,  but  he  has  correctly  interpreted  the 
essence  of  Christianity  when  he  declares  that  it  is  pri- 
marily social,  and  that  the  great  truths  of  religion 
cannot  be  understood  when  applied  in  isolation  to  the 
individual  subject,  but  only  when  explained  in  relation  to 
the  subject  as  a  member  of  a  community  of  believers 
("Justification  and  Reconciliation,"  chap.  i).  The  social, 
the  collective,  the  human  ideal  is  preserved  throughout, 
and  this  leads  us  to  think  of  the  ideal  condition  as  life  in  a 
divine,  human,  righteous  society.  The  salvation  which 
Christ  brings  "  is  not  finished  when  a  man  is  forgiven 
or  has  obtained  peace  with  God ;  it  is  completed  only 
when  Christ  is  all  in  all — that  is,  when  humanity  has  been 
built  up  in  all  its  parts  and  regulated  in  all  its  relations 
by  the  ideal  of  love  and  sonship  that  has  lived  from 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  415 

eternity  in  the  bosom  of  God"  (Fairbairn,  "Religion  in 
History  and  Modern  Life,"  p.  254).  The  kingdom  of 
God  is  not  an  anarchy  of  good  individuals,  but  a  society 
of  brothers  who  live  together  in  righteousness  and  love. 

There  must  be  some  medium  through  which  men  can 
express  their  social  fellowship  and  co-operate  for  the  com- 
nnon  good.  "  We  have  such  a  medium,"  men  say;  "  it  is 
the  church ;  it  is  the  body  of  Christ  and  the  agency  of  the 
kingdom."  So  far  so  good ;  but  as  every  one  knows  large 
sections  of  life  lie  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  church ; 
and  by  the  very  nature  of  the  case  the  church  has  its  own 
special  aims  and  methods.  We  must  either  admit,  there- 
fore, that  large  provinces  of  life  lie  beyond  the  sover- 
eignty of  God  and  the  interest  of  the  Christian,  or  we 
must  find  some  agency  through  which  we  can  co-operate 
in  promoting  the  wide  interests  of  life,  and  in  which  we 
can  express  our  Christian  principles.  The  State,  in 
some  form,  is  necessary  if  men  are  to  seek  the  whole 
kingdom  of  God.  This  is  not  all ;  but  since  Christian 
men  are  members  of  the  State,  they  must  carry  the 
Christian  spirit  into  all  the  relations  and  realms  of  so- 
ciety. They  must  do  one  of  two  things ;  they  must  either 
renounce  their  citizenship  in  the  civil  State,  or  they  must 
carry  the  Christian  ideal  into  every  province  and  seek  to 
build  the  State  after  the  divine  ideal.  To  renounce  one's 
citizenship  is  to  throw  away  one  of  the  most  precious 
opportunities  of  life;  to  limit  the  Christian  ideal  and  to 
exclude  the  Christian  spirit  from  any  province  of  life  is 
treason  against  the  kingdom  of  God.  To  follow  the 
Christian  ideal  and  honor  one's  citizenship  means  the 
building  up  in  the  earth  of  a  Christian  State.  Thus  the 
Christian  form  of  the  State  is  inevitable  if  men  are  to 
seek  the  whole  kingdom  of  God. 

Thus  all  the  various  lines  of  thought  converge  at  one 
point  and  lead  to  one  conclusion.    The  life  of  the  king- 


4i6 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


dom,  being  a  social  life,  creates  around  itself  a  human 
society;  the  Christian  conception  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
on  earth  implies  the  perfection  of  life  in  its  social  rela- 
tions ;  the  perfection  of  man  involves  the  perfection  of  the 
social  and  political  institutions  of  his  life. 

II.  The  Building  of  the  Christian  State  is  the  Task  Set 
Before  the  Christian  Citizen.  The  very  nature  of  Chris- 
tianity and  the  very  nature  of  man  make  several  things, 
very  plain.  For  one  thing,  Christianity  is  a  social  religion, 
and  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  God  is  a  social  ideal. 
Nothing  less,  then,  or  lower  than  a  social  realization, 
can  satisfy  the  purpose  of  Christianity.  For  another 
thing,  Christianity  can  never  be  isolated  and  made  a 
purely  personal  matter.  They  wrong  Christianity  and 
defecate  it  of  all  meaning  who  would  treat  it  in  this  way 
and  would  regard  it  as  an  abstract  and  vague  something 
or  nothing  that  has  no  relation  to  the  whole  life  of  man. 
The  principles  of  Christianity  cannot  work  in  a  vacuum, 
and  they  are  not  mere  counsels  of  perfection ;  on  the  con- 
trary their  confessed  sphere  of  manifestation  is  human 
life  with  its  interests  and  relations. 

Again,  the  great  virtues  of  Christianity  are  social  vir- 
tues, and  must  have  social  expression.  It  is  not  enough 
that  there  be  honesty  and  justice,  sincerity  and  love  in 
the  hearts  of  men;  these  qualities,  to  have  their  largest 
meaning  and  fullest  value,  must  express  themselves  in 
social  institutions  and  human  relations.  The  fact  is,  per- 
sonal goodness  and  private  virtue  are  never  more  than 
mere  abstractions  till  they  are  expressed  in  outward  acts 
and  social  forms.  It  has  become  very  plain  that  abstract 
goodness  is  at  best  an  impossible  thing,  an  abstract 
nothing;  the  man  who  is  good  is  good  in  a  definite  and 
concrete  situation,  and  no  other  kind  of  goodness  is  con- 
ceivable. So  also  love  is  not  a  vague  and  impersonal  feel- 
ing, but  a  definite  and  personal  relation;  the  man  who 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  417 

loves  always  loves  some  one.  The  just  man  is  just  in  a 
certain  concrete  relation  with  his  fellows ;  and  any  other 
conception  is  inconceivable  (King,  "Rational  Living," 
chap,  xi;  Small,  "  General  Sociology,"  Part  VIII).  And 
for  a  last  thing,  Christianity  can  never  attain  to  its  full 
power  till  it  is  expressed  in  social  forms.  Any  attempt  to 
realize  the  full  purpose  of  God  must  carry  one  out  into 
social  life  and  inspire  him  to  build  the  Christian  State. 
"  Never  in  any  case  will  Christianity  appear  in  individ- 
uals without  at  the  same  time  appearing  in  the  form  of  a 
society"  (Martensen,  "Christian  Ethics,  General,"  Sec. 
70).  That  is,  the  Christian  life  by  its  very  nature  and 
quality  must  seek  to  build  around  itself  a  body  in  which  it 
can  dwell  and  through  which  it  can  reveal  its  power.  The 
idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God  includes  the  whole  life  of 
man,  his  personal  and  his  family  life,  his  church  and  his 
social  life.  Hence  the  programme  of  the  kingdom  must 
comprehend  the  perfection  of  man  in  all  the  realms  and 
relations  of  his  being  with  the  transformation  of  all  the 
institutions  of  his  life. 

This  conception  of  Christianity  imposes  a  new  obliga- 
tion upon  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  Christian  disciple- 
ship.  Thus  far  Christianity  has  proved  its  ability  to 
create  the  finest  and  highest  type  of  personal  morality 
and  saintly  life.  The  spirit  of  Christ  came  as  a  new 
creative  spirit  brooding  over  the  abyss  of  human  degrada- 
tion in  the  pagan  world  and  bringing  forth  new  types  of 
manhood.  Before  long  the  Christians  were  noted  for  their 
pure  lives  and  their  loving  service,  and  even  their  enemies 
were  compelled  to  mark  and  admire.  In  the  progress  of 
the  centuries  this  ideal  has  developed  and  unfolded,  and 
new  aspects  of  it  have  been  seen  and  loved.  Without  fear 
Christianity  can  point  to  the  lives  of  men  and  women  as 
illustrations  of  its  power  to  transform  human  lives  and  to 
create  the  finest  type  of  personal  Christian  character. 

26 


4i8 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


And  the  spirit  of  Christ  dwelling  in  men  has  created 
the  Christian  family.  Christianity  arose  at  a  time  when 
the  bonds  of  human  society  were  dissolving,  and  when 
marriage  was  lightly  esteemed.  But  in  this  time  the 
gospel  began  its  changeful  but  triumphant  career,  and 
soon  its  effects  are  noticed  in  Roman  society.  The  home 
life  of  the  Christians  was  remarkable  for  its  purity  and 
stability,  and  in  the  truest  sense  it  may  be  said  that  the 
Christian  family  came  into  being.  This  is  one  of  the 
great  achievements  of  the  Christian  spirit,  and  through  it 
there  is  given  new  hope  for  the  future  of  the  world. 

Not  only  so,  but  the  Christian  spirit  has  created  the 
Christian  church,  an  achievement  of  no  less  significance. 
This  church  has  been  a  continual  witness  for  God  and  for 
the  things  eternal ;  it  has  come  to  men  with  a  message  of 
hope  and  love,  and  it  has  wrought  wonders  in  human 
lives.  It  is  easy  for  any  one  who  is  so  inclined  to  frame  a 
heavy  indictment  against  the  churches  and  to  sustain  that 
indictment  at  the  bar  of  history.  There  have  been  times 
when  the  churches  have  been  cold  and  worldly,  when 
they  have  forgotten  the  real  message  of  Christ  and  have 
hardly  lisped  the  first  syllable  of  his  truth;  in  fact,  there 
have  been  times  when  the  churches  have  been  practically 
antichristian  and  when  the  men  who  wanted  to  remain 
Christians  were  obliged  to  step  outside  of  their  bound- 
aries. But  with  it  all  the  churches  not  only  have  endured, 
but  they  have  shown  a  wonderful  power  of  moral  re- 
newal, and  their  words  and  works  are  a  witness  to  the 
spirit  of  Christ.  These  things,  thus  enumerated,  are  all 
triumphs  of  the  Christian  spirit,  and  are  illustrations  of 
the  Christian  ideal,  and  they  are  to  be  classed  among  the 
great  Gesta  Christi. 

But  now,  at  last,  the  Christian  has  become  a  citizen, 
and  in  a  way  is  responsible  for  the  State's  struggle  for 
life  and  progress.    It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  careful  con- 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  419 

sideration  that  in  lands  where  Christianity  is  most  reg- 
nant the  government  is  most  democratic.  It  is  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  Christian  life,  that  one  is  to  do 
everything  in  the  name  and  for  the  ends  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
his  whole  life  is  to  be  lived  out  under  the  dominion  of 
his  Master,  as  his  whole  effort  in  the  world  is  the  en- 
deavor to  realize  the  Christian  ideal  in  all  the  relations 
and  realms  of  his  life.  The  Christian  has  become  a  citizen, 
and  is  called  to  the  privilege  of  sovereignty  in  the  State. 
The  Christian  citizen  has  the  ideal  of  a  Christian  society, 
and  he  is  called  to  justify  his  faith  in  his  deeds.  Thus, 
by  the  very  necessities  of  the  case,  the  Christian  citizen  is 
summoned  to  the  task  of  creating  in  the  earth  the 
Christian  type  of  human  society. 

In  these  times  men  are  coming  to  what  may  be  called 
social  self-consciousness,  and  through  this  self-conscious- 
ness they  are  discovering  that  many  things  in  their  lives, 
and  in  society,  are  contrary  to  the  Christian  ideal.  But 
by  the  very  terms  of  that  ideal  the  men  who  profess  and 
call  themselves  Christian  are  pledged  to  be  faithful  to  it, 
and  seek  its  realization  in  the  world.  It  hence  follows 
that  the  Christian  ideal  fairly  and  fully  commits  men  to 
the  task  of  building  up  in  the  earth  a  better  and  more 
Christian  type  of  human  society.  This  is  the  task  that 
cannot  be  shirked  by  those  who  bear  the  Christian  name 
and  cherish  the  Christian  hope.  For  men  to  say  that  the 
purpose  of  Christ  has  no  relation  to  the  State,  is  to  ex- 
clude nine-tenths  of  life  from  the  kingdom  of  God,  be- 
little that  kingdom,  and  deny  Christ's  claim  to  universal 
kingship.  The  man  who  believes  in  Jesus  Christ  must 
repudiate  all  such  conceptions  as  these,  and  must  dare  to 
assert  Christ's  right  to  social  headship.  One  cannot  be- 
lieve in  a  Christ  who  is  Lord  and  King  and  then  narrow 
and  limit  his  sovereignty  to  any  special  realm.  Not  only 
so,  but  for  men  to  say  that  Christianity  has  no  message 


420 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


and  no  meaning  for  the  great  world  of  social  interests  is 
to  discount  that  gospel  at  the  very  start.  The  men  who 
advocate  these  views  know  not  what  they  do ;  for  they  are 
making  it  hard  for  the  modern  world  to  have  any  interest 
in  such  an  emasculated  and  small  gospel,  and  they  are 
giving  color  to  the  belief  of  many  that  Christianity  is  out- 
grown and  belongs  to  the  museum  of  antiquities.  And 
once  more,  for  men  to  say,  as  many  are  now  saying,  that, 
in  the  Christianity  we  now  have  there  is  no  power  ade- 
quate to  this  task  of  social  regeneration  and  reconstruc- 
tion is  really  to  wound  Christianity  in  the  house  of  its 
friends.  The  fact  is,  a  gospel  that  is  not  competent  to 
meet  the  whole  need  of  man  is  simply  no  gospel  at  all.  A 
gospel  of  redemption  that  must  abandon  the  world  and 
must  concern  itself  only  with  a  few  individuals  who  are 
saved  out  of  the  world,  has  no  meaning  for  humanity,  and 
might  as  well  be  cast  aside  at  once.  But  such  we  believe 
is  not  the  gospel  of  Christianity  which  is  here  to  save  the 
world  and  to  bring  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  struggle  of  the  world  religions  is  upon  us,  and  the 
law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  applies  here  as  else- 
where. It  is  simply  folly  for  Christians  to  complain  of 
this  law  and  try  to  keep  Christianity  out  of  comparison 
with  the  other  religions  of  the  world.  It  is  especially 
short-sighted  and  vain  for  them  to  avoid  the  simple  test — 
the  test  of  fruits — which  the  Master  has  himself  proposed. 
The  gospel,  it  is  conceded,  has  demonstrated  its  ability  to 
create  the  finest  type  of  personal  morality;  it  has  proved 
its  ability  to  create  the  Christian  home  and  the  Christian 
church,  which  are  achievements  of  no  little  moment. 
While  this  is  much,  this  is  not  by  any  means  all  that  we 
ask  of  a  religion.  Christianity  must  now  prove  its  power 
to  create  the  finest  and  highest  type  of  social  and  political 
life,  and  by  its  ability  to  do  this  it  will  be  rated  in  the  days 
to  come.    "  This  is  the  work  set  before  the  missionary 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  421 

will  and  reason  of  the  Church.  This  is  the  thing  that 
Christianity  must  do  in  order  to  carry  off  from  the  great 
debate  of  comparative  religions  the  prize  of  the  world's 
allegiance"  (Nash,  "Ethics  and  Revelation,"  p.  167). 
The  time  is  coming,  and  it  is  even  now  here,  when  Chris- 
tianity is  to  be  judged  by  its  ability  to  create  a  higher 
and  diviner  type  of  human  society.  A  religion  that  makes 
no  provision  for  many  great  interests  of  life  and  falls  short 
of  the  whole  nature  of  man  can  neither  be  the  final  nor 
the  perfect  religion.  Hence,  the  very  plain  and  urgent 
duty  resting  upon  all  who  call  themselves  Christians  and 
who  cherish  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  to  build 
up  in  the  earth  a  Christian  society  that  is  founded  upon 
righteousness  and  love,  a  society  that  is  fashioned  after 
the  divine  pattern — in  short,  a  society  that  is  nothing 
less  than  the  kingdom  of  God.  To  this  task  the  Christian 
citizen  is  fairly  committed  by  the  Christian  ideal,  and  to 
this  task  he  is  fully  called  by  the  needs  of  humanity  itself. 
The  nature  of  Christianity  and  the  processes  of  history 
have  squarely  committed  to  the  Christian  citizen  this  task 
of  building  a  Christian  State. 

III.  The  Nature  of  the  Christian  State.  That  the 
Christian  citizen  is  called  and  committed  to  the  task  of 
building  a  Christian  State,  the  social  realization  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  is  a  legitimate  conclusion  of  all  that  has 
been  said  thus  far.  But  this  idea  of  the  Christian  State 
needs  to  be  carefully  analyzed  and  defined  that  it  may  be 
separated  from  some  of  its  counterfeits.  Not  only  so, 
but  there  are  many  who  object  to  this  conclusion,  in  whole 
or  in  part,  in  the  name  of  religion  and  also  of  irreligion ; 
for  they  see  in  it — or  fancy  they  see  in  it — a  grave  danger. 
At  once  the  specter  of  a  theocratic  government  starts  up 
in  their  minds  to  terrify  them.  They  affirm  that  this  idea 
of  the  Christian  State  is  simply  the  old  idea  of  theocracy 
masquerading  under  a  new  name,  but  unchanged  in 


422 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


character.  Great  is  cant  and  incomprehensible  is  the 
aversion  of  men  to  things  they  do  not  understand.  And 
yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  this  fear  of  theocracy  is  not 
entirely  without  reason  in  view  of  the  many  things  that 
have  passed  for  theocracy  during  the  history  of  man. 

I.  In  the  Christian  centuries  many  attempts  have  been 
made  to  found  Christian  communities  and  to  realize  on 
earth  the  kingdom  of  God.  These  efforts  illustrate  and 
confirm  the  statement  of  Professor  Seeley  that  religion 
is  the  great  State-builder,  and  that  the  foundations  of  all 
States  are  laid  in  religion  ("  Natural  Religion,"  chap.  iv). 
These  experiments  in  behalf  of  a  Christian  society  consti- 
tute a  brilliant  page  of  human  history  that  should  be 
better  known  than  is  now  the  case.1  Thus  far,  however, 
no  comprehensive  study  has  been  made  of  these  various 
efforts  to  establish  a  Christian  society  and  thus  to  actual- 
ize the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  not  necessary  here,  and  it 
is  not  possible,  to  give  even  an  outline  of  these  various 
attempts.  But  all  of  these  experiments,  it  may  be  ob- 
served, have  been  vitiated  by  one  or  another  error,  and 
have  failed  from  one  of  two  reasons.  In  some  cases  they 
have  been  almost  wholly  ecclesiastical  in  character,  as  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  branch  of  the  church;  or  they  have 
been  markedly  theological  in  quality,  as  in  the  Protestant 
division  of  Christendom. 

In  the  Catholic  branch  of  the  church  a  studied  effort 
has  been  made  from  the  time  of  Constantine,  to  found 
a  Christian  society  and  to  build  a  Christian  State.  In  a 
number  of  lands,  as  in  Italy,  Spain,  France,  Austria,  the 
Church  has  claimed  authority  over  the  State,  and  has 

1  Some  of  these  experiments  have  been  considered  in  some  of  their  aspects  by 
Fremantle  in  his  notable  study  "The  World  as  the  Subject  of  Redemption,"  and 
by  Westcott  in  his  suggestive  book  "The  Social  Aspects  of  Christianity."  One 
remarkable  experiment  has  been  discussed  by  Bryce  in  his  epoch-making  book 
"The  Holy  Roman  Empire,"  and  still  other  aspects  of  the  question  have  been 
studied  by  the  historians  of  the  various  socialistic  communities. 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  423 

sought  to  reduce  the  world  under  the  dominion  of 
Christ's  vicegerent.  These  efforts  have  not  only  not 
succeeded,  but  they  have  led  men  astray  from  the  right 
path  and  have  put  back  the  cause  of  human  progress.  In 
the  Protestant  division  of  Christendom  a  number  of  efforts 
have  been  made  to  found  Christian  communities,  but  thus 
far  these  efforts  have  had  a  theological  basis.  The  theo- 
cratic State  of  Calvin  was  of  this  order ;  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant  of  Scotland  was  a  theological 
document;  the  Puritan  and  Pilgrim  colonies  of 
New  England  were  founded  on  this  idea  and  were 
dominated  by  doctrinal  tests.  All  these  were  brave  and 
honest  efforts  to  found  a  Christian  society  and  actualize 
on  earth  the  kingdom  of  God ;  but  these  experiments  all 
failed,  as  they  were  bound  to  fail,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  their  foundations  were  theological.  To  Calvinist 
and  Puritan  the  world  owes  an  immeasurable  debt  of 
gratitude,  for  they  both  asserted  the  right  of  the  human 
spirit  to  be  free  from  the  domination  of  a  Church.  But 
from  the  experiments  of  both  the  Calvinist  and  Puritan 
the  world  turns  away  in  disappointment  realizing  that 
they  have  missed  the  road  to  the  Christian  State. 

2.  The  Christian  State  does  not  mean  any  of  the  things 
that  men  have  tried  to  make  it  mean.  It  does  not  mean 
the  supremacy  of  a  priesthood,  though  it  does  mean  the 
sovereignty  of  God ;  in  fact,  the  sovereignty  of  God, 
rightly  conceived,  means  the  denial  of  a  distinctly  priestly 
class.  It  does  not  mean  the  supremacy  of  the  church 
over  the  State.  One  of  the  most  stupendous  blunders 
of  the  ages  has  been  the  confounding  of  the  church  with 
the  kingdom  of  God.  The  church  is  simply  a  means  to  an 
end,  and  the  kingdom  only  is  ultimate.  The  kingdom  is 
the  wider  category  and  includes  the  whole  life  of  man, 
spiritual,  moral,  personal,  social,  temporal,  and  eternal. 
Church  and  State  are  only  so  many  realms  in  which  the 


424 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


reign  of  God  is  realized ;  both  are  means  to  an  end,  and 
both  are  subordinate  to  the  kingdom  itself.  It  is  an 
arrogance  approaching  blasphemy  for  either  church  or 
State  to  claim  lordship  over  the  other — that  very  lord- 
ship which  belongs  only  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  We 
could  as  easily  tolerate  a  State  supremacy  over 
the  church  as  a  church  supremacy  over  the  State. 
The  church  is  itself  subordinate  to  the  kingdom  and 
has  no  warrant  for  assuming  lordship  over  any  other 
sphere.  The  King  of  the  kingdom  is  the  head  over  all 
things,  and  for  the  church  to  arrogate  to  itself  this  func- 
tion is  to  dethrone  the  King  and  climb  into  his  seat.  The 
Romanist  is  eternally  right  when  he  declares  that  the 
State  must  be  subordinate  to  God ;  but  he  is  as  eternally 
wrong  when  he  declares  that  the  King  has  delegated  a 
portion  of  his  authority  over  the  State  to  the  Church  of 
Rome. 


Nor  does  the  Christian  State  mean  the  dominance 
of  a  system  of  theological  thought  in  human  society. 
The  fact  is  one  thing,  and  the  explanation  of  the  fact 
is  quite  another  thing.  Creeds  and  theologies  are  state- 
ments of  human  belief,  attempts  to  explain  the  great 
facts  of  God  and  man,  words  thrown  out  at  great  real- 
ities, the  effort  to  correlate  some  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  faith.  At  best  all  such  creeds  and  theological 
systems  are  but  men's  conceptions  of  things,  approxi- 
mations to  the  truth,  tentative  efforts  of  human  thought, 
and  hence  never  finalities  and  fixities. 


Our  little  systems  have  their  day, 
They  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be; 
They  are  but  broken  lights  of  Thee, 

And  thou,  O  Christ,  art  more  than  they. 


Not  only  so,  but  men's  relations  with  one  another  are 
personal  through  and  through,  and  have  thus  some  deeper 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  425 


and  stronger  basis  than  an  intellectual  one.  To  attempt 
to  build  a  Christian  society  upon  an  intellectual  and 
creedal  basis  is  to  misconceive  the  very  nature  of  man  and 
is  to  assume  an  artificial  ground  for  human  association. 
To  attempt  to  bring  human  society  under  the  authority  of 
a  system  of  theological  thought  is  to  misconceive  the 
-very  nature  of  the  kingdom  and  miss  the  whole  meaning 
of  the  Christian  State.  We  are  not  surprised,  therefore, 
to  find  that  all  attempts  thus  far  made  to  build  a  Christian 
society  on  a  theological  basis  and  to  subordinate  the 
State  to  a  system  of  theology  should  so  signally  fail. 
And  yet  Calvinist  and  Puritan  were  eternally  right  when 
they  affirmed  that  the  goal  of  God's  purpose  was  the  estab- 
lishment  on  earth  of  a  holy  State  in  which  God  was  the/, 
sole  and  rightful  King;  they  were  as  eternally  wrong 
when  they  endeavored  to  construe  this  kingdom  in  theo- 
logical categories  and  impose  them  upon  the  minds  of  men. 

3.  The  attempts  thus  far  made  to  found  a  Christian 
State  have  had  a  theocratic  color,  with  an  ecclesiastical 
or  theological  basis,  and  for  this  reason  they  were  doomed 
to  failure.  But  however  many  and  disappointing  have 
been  the  failures  of  the  past  each  age  is  called  to  attempt 
once  more  the  divine  task  of  building  up  in  the  earth  a 
Christian  State  that  shall  be  the  human  realization  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  There  are  three  considerations  that 
are  of  great  service  here,  and  will  enable  us  to  perceive 
the  real  nature  of  the  Christian  State. 

For  one  thing,  the  Christian  order  of  society  is  inspi- 
rational rather  than  institutional.  That  this  is  so  is  made 
very  plain  by  the  very  nature  of  Christianity  itself.  The 
fundamental  conception  of  Christianity  is  that  God  is  an 
essentially  moral  and  spiritual  being.  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity are  entirely  unique  among  the  religions  of  the 
world  in  this  particular;  they  both  have  as  their  founda- 
tion the  conception  of  a  God  who,  in  the  very  essence  of 


426 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


his  being  is  holiness  and  love.  Judaism,  it  has  been  said, 
was  the  only  religion  in  the  ancient  world  whose  God 
had  a  moral  character  (Geo.  Adam  Smith,  "  Book  of  the 
Twelve  Prophets,"  Vol.  I,  p.  55).  Christianity  enlarges 
and  fulfils  this  idea  of  Judaism  and  makes  it  the  posses- 
sion of  the  human  race.  The  sovereignty  of  God,  it  fol- 
lows from  all  this,  is  that  of  a  moral  and  spiritual 
authority  over  men.  By  the  nature  of  the  case  it  is 
neither  an  ecclesiastical  rule  nor  a  theological  authority, 
but  a  personal  relation  and  a  spiritual  sovereignty.  The 
God  of  Christianity  is  neither  an  ecclesiastical  pope  nor  a 
theological  abstraction,  but  a  moral  personality  and  a 
spiritual  character.  Adapting  the  statement  of  Matheson, 
we  may  say  that  faith  in  God  is  a  vision  of  his  moral 
perfection  and  an  aspiration  of  soul  after  his  spiritual 
ideal.  The  man  who  believes  in  God,  "  believes  in  the 
beauty  of  goodness,  the  desirableness  of  purity,  and  the 
right  of  righteousness  to  be  ultimately  triumphant " 
(Matheson,  "Landmarks  of  N.  T.  Morality,"  p.  108). 
Faith  in  God  is  faith  in  godliness  with  the  choice  of 
godliness.  The  kingship  of  God  over  men  and  societies 
manifests  itself,  not  in  the  dominion  of  an  ecclesiastical 
machine  bearing  his  name,  not  in  the  prevalence  of  a 
theological  system  in  which  he  is  the  logical  center,  but 
in  the  enthronement  of  his  moral  personality  as  the  in- 
spiration of  men  and  the  fulfilment  of  his  righteousness 
as  the  law  of  human  relations.  It  is  well  to  remember 
that  while  religion  seeks  and  finds  expression  in  creeds 
and  becomes  organic  and  real  in  institutions,  yet  the 
fortune  and  fate  of  religion  itself  are  not  bound  up  with 
success  or  failure  of  our  creeds  and  institutions. 

For  another  reason,  the  Son  of  man  did  not  come  to 
create  an  institution,  but  to  give  life.  An  institutional 
rule  of  men  is  not  God's  ideal  for  men.  Christ's  rule  is 
not  external  and  formal,  a  matter  of  statutes  and  insti- 


THE  REALIZATION  OE  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  427 

tutions ;  it  is  an  inward  control,  a  moral  dynamic,  a  right- 
eous impulse,  an  all-controlling  mind.  The  kingdom  of 
God,  says  the  apostle,  is  not  meat  and  drink,  but  right- 
eousness, peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit  (Rom.  14  : 
17).  The  kingdom  comes  less  by  statutes  than  by  inspi- 
rations; it  is  hastened  by  ideals  rather  than  by  institu- 
tions. Tolstoy  is  right  when  he  insists  that  little  can 
be  done  for  men  till  the  Christian  ideal  of  life 
prevails.  The  Christian  conception  of  God  is  that  of 
moral  and  spiritual  personality,  who  in  the  very  essence 
of  his  being  is  righteousness  and  love.  The  man  who 
believes  in  God  and  seeks  his  kingdom  lives  under  the 
authority  of  the  divine  ideal  and  makes  the  idea  of  the 
kingdom  his  guiding  principle.  What  does  this  mean? 
It  means  that  in  the  great  correlated  truths  of  Father- 
hood and  Brotherhood  we  have  the  measure  and  type  and 
inspiration  of  every  personal  and  social  obligation.  It 
means  also  that  social  customs  will  be  made,  legislative 
halls  will  be  conscienced,  national  policies  will  be  motived, 
industrial  systems  will  be  inspired,  by  the  great  eternal 
principles  of  the  kingdom. 

Thus  the  Christian  State  is  the  necessary  outcome  of 
the  Christian  life.  In  the  progress  of  history  and  the 
providences  of  God  it  has  come  about  that  Christian  men 
are  more  and  more  called  to  the  privilege  of  citizenship 
in  the  great  nations  of  the  world.  This  democratic 
movement  has  behind  it  the  whole  inspiration  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  whole  prestige  of  history,  and  democracy 
will  more  and  more  become  regnant  as  Christianity  more 
and  more  makes  its  way.  There  is  some  great  meaning  in 
this  movement,  and  there  are  some  great  responsibilities 
resting  upon  Christian  men.  It  means  that  Christian 
men  are  more  and  more  coming  to  have  a  part  in  making 
laws,  and  selecting  rulers,  in  determining  policies,  and 
building  political  States.    This  brings  us  face  to  face 


428 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


with  the  question  of  the  relation  of  the  Christian  man 
to  public  affairs. 

4.  Religion,  the  religion  of  Christianity,  is  all-per- 
vasive and  all-determining.  It  means  the  pervasion  of 
life  in  all  its  spheres  and  relations  with  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  with  the  determination  of  life  in  all  its  interests 
and  purposes  by  that  spirit.  Whatever  the  Christian  does 
in  word  or  in  deed,  in  the  Church  or  in  the  State,  he  does 
in  the  name  of  Christ  and  for  his  ends.  The  special  acts 
of  his  life  are  only  the  manifestation  of  the  life  within, 
as  the  life  within  finds  expression  in  the  deed  without. 
No  man  can  be  a  Christian  in  one  part  of  his  life  and  a 
pagan  in  the  other.  The  Christian  who  is  a  citizen  must 
be  a  Christian  citizen;  that  is,  the  acts  of  his  citizenship 
are  the  flower  and  fruitage  of  his  inner  spirit.  This 
means  a  great  deal  more  than  appears  on  the  surface,  and 
it  has  consequences  that  are  simply  immeasurable. 

The  Christian  citizen  is  a  man  who  has  the  Christian 
ideal  and  lives  by  the  Christian  spirit.  By  the  very 
necessities  of  the  case  he  will  seek  to  realize  that  ideal  in 
the  life  of  the  State  and  in  society.  Soon  or  late  he  who 
would  be  true  to  Christ  finds  himself  confronted  with 
these  alternatives :  Whether  he  will  have  nothing  to  do 
with  political  affairs;  or  whether  he  will  make  the  acts 
of  his  citizenship  the  fulfilment  of  his  Christian  life. 
He  must  pursue  the  one  course  or  the  other.  Either  he 
must  refrain  from  all  participation  in  civil  matters,  or 
he  must  make  all  the  acts  of  his  citizenship  the  expression 
of  his  deepest  consciousness.  To  refrain  from  all  par- 
ticipation in  public  affairs  is  neither  the  wise  nor  the 
Christian  thing  to  do.  For  no  interest  of  man  can  be 
alien  to  the  Christian  as  no  part  of  life  can  lie  outside 
the  purpose  of  Christ.  To  go  out  into  the  State  and  live 
in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  to  seek  the  Christian  ideal  and  to 
confess  his  faith  in  act,  is  the  plain  duty  that  lies  upon  the 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  429 

Christian  citizen.  The  Christian  who  votes  must  make 
his  vote  a  confession  of  faith ;  the  Christian  who  is  in 
the  hall  of  legislation  must  make  the  civil  statute  his 
interpretation  of  the  Christian  ideal;  the  Christian  who 
administers  law  administers  as  a  Christian  in  fulfilment 
of  the  gracious  purpose  of  the  Father  of  mankind  con- 
cerning his  children ;  the  Christian  who  is  planning  for 
the  city's  good  is  seeking  to  build  on  earth  a  city  after 
the  pattern  of  the  city  of  God.  In  every  act  and  activity 
of  his  life,  whether  in  the  church  or  in  the  State,  the 
Christian  man  makes  the  will  and  purpose  of  God  his 
supreme  and  final  standard.  In  every  relation  and  sphere 
of  life  he  must  be  true  to  his  Lord  and  must  seek  to  make 
the  Christian  ideal  an  earthly  reality. 

A  man's  belief  in  God  is  his  programme  of  action.  A 
nation's  faith  is  written  out  in  the  nation's  policy.  The 
things  men  do  are  the  revelations  of  the  things  men  are. 
The  statutes  of  a  State  are  the  written  articles  in  its 
confession  of  faith.  This  being  so,  men  show  what 
manner  of  men  they  are  by  their  deeds  and  words  in 
political  caucuses  as  well  as  in  prayer  meetings ;  in  the 
way  they  conduct  their  business  and  frame  their  laws 
they  show  what  kind  of  spirit  they  possess.  The  govern- 
mental regulations,  the  constitution  and  laws  of  a  people, 
their  social  and  industrial  institutions,  their  policies, 
whether  national  or  international,  are  the  revelations  of 
their  life  and  the  confession  of  their  faith.  Politics  is 
the  art  of  applied  religion.  Social  justice  is  men's  inter- 
pretation of  human  brotherhood.  Civil  law  is  the  people's 
statement  of  doctrine.  Political  institutions  are  men's 
practice  of  the  Golden  Rule.  It  is  in  their  political 
life  that  the  real  religion  of  a  people  is  expressed  and 
realized. 

Christianity  is  the  nature  of  things.  The  foundations 
of  society  are  moral,  spiritual,  Christian  foundations.  No 


43Q 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


other  order  of  society  than  the  Christian  order  is  either 
stable  or  permanent.  Just  so  far  as  society  builds  upon 
the  principles  and  spirit  and  life  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  that  far  it  will  be  progressive  and  peaceful.  Just 
so  far  as  it  ignores  the  life  and  spirit  and  principles  of  the 
kingdom,  that  far  it  will  be  unstable  and  full  of  unrest. 
All  human  legislation  has  validity  and  power  in  so  far  as 
it  embodies  in  laws  the  principles  of  the  kingdom ;  and 
all  progress  is  to  be  measured  by  the  fulfilment  of  the 
purpose  of  God  in  the  life  of  humanity.  The  fact  is, 
humanity  can  never  know  itself  and  its  goal  apart  from 
the  kingdom  of  God ;  and  humanity  can  never  reach  its 
goal  and  end  apart  from  the  life  and  power  of  the 
kingdom.  The  kingdoms  of  the  earth  typified  by  the  lion, 
the  bear,  the  eagle,  all  fall  and  vanish  and  make  way  for 
the  kingdom  of  man  (Dan.  7  :  1-14).  The  only  pos- 
sible foundation  for  society  is  the  life  and  spirit  and  law 
of  the  Son  of  man,  the  King  of  the  kingdom.  The  build- 
ers of  earth  may  reject  Him  whom  God  has  appointed  to 
be  the  chief  corner-stone ;  they  may  say,  Go  to ;  let  us 
build  a  great  nation  by  our  own  ingenuity  and  wisdom 
and  power.  But  in  this  way  Babels  and  Babylons  are 
built,  and  not  great  and  enduring  States.  Men  may 
frame  their  constitutions,  and  may  devise  their  govern- 
mental systems  with  a  careful  provision  of  checks  and 
balances;  but  it  will  avail  them  little  unless  the  spirit  of 
Christ  is  in  their  plans  and  the  laws  of  Christ  are  in  their 
lives.  As  certainly  as  God  lives,  as  certainly  as  this  uni- 
verse is  built  on  moral  principles,  so  certainly  will  this 
nation  or  any  other  crumble  and  end  in  dismal  failure 
whose  only  bond  of  unity  is  a  written  constitution,  and 
whose  only  polity  is  a  balance  of  expediencies.  The 
words  with  which  Mulford  closes  his  great  book  on  the 
nation  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized :  "  It  is  only 
as  the  nation  recognizes  the  law  of  humanity  which  He 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE        43 1 

(God)  has  revealed  that  it  attains  the  realization  of  its 
being"  (p.  412). 

IV.  The  Christianization  of  the  State.  The  life  of 
the  kingdom  is  working  in  the  world  and  is  seeking  real- 
ization in  social  forms.  The  ideal  of  the  kingdom  is  here 
pointing  the  way  of  human  progress  and  inspiring  the 
prophetic  soul  of  the  wide  world. 

1.  But  men,  Christian  men,  have  not  allowed  this  life  to 
do  its  perfect  work  in  the  wider  relations  of  society ;  they 
have  not  accepted  the  Christian  ideal  in  all  its  meaning 
and  power,  and  so  they  have  not  borne  this  ideal  into 
every  province  of  life.  They  have  said  that  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  a  divine  society  and,  as  it  is  impossible  to 
build  a  city  of  God  out  of  earthly  men,  we  cannot  expect 
a  Christian  society  in  the  present  order  of  things.  Be  it 
so,  but  there  are  Christian  men  in  the  world,  true  chil- 
dren of  the  kingdom,  suitable  stones  for  the  walls  of 
the  new  city.  Why  then  should  not  these  children  of  the 
kingdom,  these  living  stones,  set  to  work  together  to 
build  up  in  the  earth  this  city  of  God?  Why  should 
not  this  divine  life  in  men — which  is  a  social  life — be 
allowed  to  have  its  way  and  create  a  society  after  its  own 
type?  To  become  organic,  to  clothe  itself  in  fitting 
forms  is  the  one  aim  and  effort  of  all  life ;  and  the  life  of 
the  kingdom  by  its  very  nature  is  organic  and  organific. 

"  But  then  this  life  works  from  within,  and  the  State 
works  from  without,  and  hence  the  life  of  the  kingdom 
and  the  machinery  of  the  State  work  in  different  spheres 
and  at  different  levels."  Granted  that  this  life  does  work 
from  within,  yet  it  works  outward  through  all  the  rela- 
tions and  realms  of  life.  By  the  very  necessities  of  the 
case  it  must  soon  or  late  manifest  itself  in  visible  forms 
and  create  around  itself  a  fit  and  appropriate  body.  This 
is  certain,  that  we  must  either  expect  this  divine  life  to 
permeate  and  transform  the  world — and  if  it  permeate 


432 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


the  world  it  must  transform  it — or  we  must  consent  that 
this  life  shall  remain  isolated  and  limited,  which  means 
that  we  must  leave  great  spheres  of  interest  beyond  its 
reach  and  influence.  The  latter  alternative  is  simply 
impossible  to  the  man  who  believes  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  the  universality  of  Christianity.  It  follows  that 
we  must  either  abandon  the  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  believe  in  a  provincial  Christianity  which  is  no  Chris-, 
tianity  at  all,  or  we  must  expect  the  life  of  the  kingdom 
as  manifest  in  Christian  men,  to  enter  the  world,  to  con- 
trol all  life,  and  transform  society  into  its  own  likeness. 

2.  This  Christian  spirit,  it  may  be  said,  is  at  work  in 
the  modern  world,  and  the  characteristics  of  the  Chris- 
tian State  are  beginning  to  appear.  And  this  Christian 
spirit  will  abide  in  the  world,  and  it  will  continue  to 
work  until  it  has  transformed  everything  into  its  own 
likeness.  This  Christian  spirit  may  work  quietly,  so 
quietly  at  times  that  men  hardly  detect  its  presence,  but 
it  will  work  potently  and  it  will  never  rest  till  it  has  had 
its  perfect  work.  It  will  go  forth  into  the  world  to  take 
of  the  ideal  of  Christ  and  show  it  unto  men ;  it  will  give 
men  a  new  conviction  of  sin  and  a  new  standard  of 
righteousness;  it  will  intensify  in  men  a  new  passion  for 
justice,  and  will  drive  them  forth  in  a  new  campaign  for 
truth ;  it  will  arouse  men  to  challenge  as  with  the  light- 
ning of  God  everything  that  injures  man  and  wrongs  child- 
hood; it  will  send  men  forth  in  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb 
to  cast  out  of  their  cities  of  earth  the  things  that  defile, 
that  work  abomination  and  that  make  a  lie.  It  will  under- 
mine and  repudiate  many  of  the  social  sentiments  that 
have  long  held  sway,  and  will  annul  some  of  the  com- 
mercial systems  that  have  long  prevailed.  It  will  teach 
men  to  regard  with  the  horror  now  shown  the  man- 
hunter,  the  buccaneer,  and  the  wrecker,  the  men  who 
exploit  the  labor  of  others  and  grow  rich  by  speculating 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  433 

in  breadstuffs.  It  will  inspire  men  to  contemplate 
with  shame  and  aversion  the  men  who  live  in 
idleness  and  luxury  on  the  toil  of  others  without 
giving  society  a  fair  equivalent.  It  will  win  its  first 
victories,  no  doubt,  in  mitigating  the  severity  of  the 
social  struggle,  and  thus  making  it  possible  for  every 
man  to  keep  his  footing  in  society.  It  will  inspire  men  to 
labor  and  serve  that  every  soul  may  have  a  fair  inher- 
itance in  life.  It  will  move  men  to  infuse  the  Christian 
spirit  into  every  realm  and  to  realize  the  law  of  brother- 
hood in  every  sphere  of  industry.  It  will  quicken  men 
into  a  new  allegiance  to  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom,  and 
it  will  hearten  them  to  go  forth  and  hold  up  that  ideal 
in  the  sight  of  all  in  the  confidence  that  this  ideal  can  win 
its  way  and  supplant  all  others;  in  a  word,  it  will  work 
on  and  work  out,  never  resting,  never  ceasing  until  it  has 
made  all  things  new. 

This  spirit  will  manifest  itself  not  alone  in  the  lives 
of  individual  men,  but  in  their  associated  efforts  in 
society.  Under  the  increasing  sway  of  this  spirit  citizens 
of  missionary  zeal  will  organize  industries  and  trades  not 
for  the  enrichment  of  the  few,  but  for  the  profit  of  the 
many.  Men  of  commercial  capacity  will  put  their  talents 
in  pledge  for  the  benefit  of  the  commonwealth,  and  not 
for  their  own.  Men  of  character  and  capacity  will  seek 
to  create  social  institutions  and  frame  laws  that  will  bring 
the  strength  and  wisdom  of  all  to  bear  upon  the  weak- 
ness and  need  of  each.  Men  who  bear  the  Christian  name 
will  more  and  more  perceive  that  conduct  is  not  a  matter 
of  customary  practice  and  legal  enactment,  but  of  love 
and  brotherhood.  Under  the  increasing  sway  of  the 
Christian  spirit  men  will  realize  that  the  only  standard  of 
life  is  the  spirit  of  Calvary,  and  the  only  interpretation  of 
law  is  the  mind  of  Christ.  Under  the  increasing  sway 
of  this  spirit  the  citizen  who  would  be  justified  by  faith 

2C 


434 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


and  have  peace  with  God,  must  have  a  vision  of  God's 
ideal  of  society  and  must  accept  that  ideal  as  the  law  of 
his  life.  He  will  find  the  seal  of  the  Spirit  and  the  wit- 
ness of  his  sonship  in  his  love  for  men  and  his  anxiety 
for  their  welfare,  and  he  will  more  and  more  make  the 
duties  of  his  citizenship  the  altar  of  his  service. 

3.  In  what  kind  of  political  programmes  and  social 
institutions  the  Christian  ideal  and  the  Christian  spirit 
will  embody  themselves  it  is  too  early  in  the  day  to  fore- 
see. Life — it  is  a  familiar  truth — is  the  cause  of  organi- 
zation ;  and  organization — it  is  no  less  certain — follows 
life.  The  Christian  life  is  organic,  and  seeks  to  create  a 
body  in  which  it  may  fully  realize  its  inner  nature.  The 
kingdom  of  God  is  not  an  institution,  and  it  can  never  be 
embodied  in  one,  and  yet  it  is  the  constitutive  power  and 
regulative  ideal  of  every  institution  of  man  or  of  society. 
The  spirit  of  Christ  is  ever  seeking  to  become  organic  in 
human  lives  and  institutions,  and  it  cannot  rest  until 
it  has  attained  its  goal.  The  social  conscience,  to  be 
effective  and  permanent,  must  realize  and  perpetuate 
itself  in  social  laws  and  political  states.  Thus  the  life  of 
the  kingdom,  the  spirit  of  Christ,  the  conscience  of  man, 
will  express  themselves  in  certain  programmes,  create 
around  themselves  various  institutions,  and  become 
organic  in  political  forms.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  these  forms  and  institutions  and  programmes  are 
but  the  temporary  body  and  transient  expressions  of  this 
spirit  and  life  and  conscience,  and  that  the  fate  and 
fortunes  of  the  kingdom  are  not  bound  up  with  any 
of  the  forms  and  expressions  of  the  kingdom's  life.  Life 
must  ever  be  free  to  express  itself  according  to  its  own 
nature,  and  life  must  also  be  free  to  adapt  itself  to  new 
conditions. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  many  programmes  may  be 
evolved  as  the  generations  go  by  and  many  experiments 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  435 

may  be  tried  as  men  build  the  Christian  city.  It  is 
hence  quite  possible  that  some  of  the  current  systems  of 
men,  known  as  labor  co-partnership  and  the  co-operative 
commonwealth,  socialism  and  the  social  State — in  so  far 
as  they  have  the  mind  of  Christ  and  illustrate  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  kingdom — may  do  something  to  bring  the 
world  a  step  nearer  its  goal.  But  we  must  expect  these 
systems  to  be  outgrown,  one  and  all,  as  society  moves  on 
in  fulfilment  of  the  purpose  of  God. 

The  serf  of  his  own  past  is  not  a  man; 

To  change  and  change  is  life,  to  move  and  never  rest; 

Not  what  we  are,  but  what  we  hope  is  best. 

— Lowell:  The  Pioneer. 

This  spirit  of  Christ  will  create  in  men  a  Christian  con- 
science, and  this  conscience,  being  Christian,  will  be 
an  urgent  and  militant  thing.  It  will  have  little  patience 
with  the  doctrines  of  laissez  faire,  which  teach  that  we 
must  not  meddle  with  nature's  operations,  and  that  we 
cannot  hasten  nature's  processes.  And  it  will  have  scant 
patience  with  that  shallow  pessimism  which  teaches  that 
nothing  can  be  done  under  the  present  order  of  things 
to  improve  the  world  and  to  Christianize  society.  It  is 
not  easy  to  say  which  is  the  worse  doctrine,  that  doctrine 
of  optimism  which  asserts  that  everything  is  coming  out 
all  right  and  there  is  nothing  for  man  to  do;  or  that 
doctrine  of  pessimism  which  declares  that  everything  is 
hopelessly  wrong  and  that  nothing  will  avail  that  man 
can  do.  The  Christian  spirit  will  have  little  to  do  with 
either  of  these  doctrines,  but  it  will  inspire  men  to  go 
forward  and  live  the  truth  in  life  and  deed ;  it  will  impel 
them  to  make  experiments  in  the  confidence  that  any 
experiment  that  will  improve  by  a  hair's  breadth  the  con- 
dition of  a  single  soul  is  the  translation  into  deed  of  some 
article  of  the  Christian  faith. 


436 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


4.  That  the  Christian  State  is  yet  far  away  in  the 
future  must  be  admitted  by  every  informed  man.  That 
the  characteristics  of  Christianity  are  yet  graven  deep 
into  the  life  and  purposes  of  society  no  one  will  probably 
care  to  assert.  The  leaven  is  here,  we  believe,  and  it  is 
at  work,  but  it  has  not  yet  by  any  means  leavened  the 
whole  lump.  Christianity  has  penetrated  the  life  of  the 
nations,  but  it  has  not  yet  transformed  a  single  city. 
The  man  who  would  speak  of  a  Christian  State  must  use 
the  future  tense,  and  must  live  by  faith.  A  Christian 
State !  And  yet  in  the  most  Christian  State  we  find  that 
six  times  as  much  money  is  spent  for  intoxicating  liquors 
as  for  the  whole  work  of  God  in  the  world;  we  find  in 
this  State  that  thousands  of  women  are  annually  tolled 
off  to  minister  to  the  lawless  passions  of  men,  and  society 
regards  all  this  as  inevitable ;  we  find  that  thousands  of 
women,  owing  to  confining  labor  and  small  remuner- 
ation, are  under  a  continual  temptation  to  barter  woman- 
hood for  gain.  A  Christian  State !  And  yet,  in  this 
State,  in  its  chief  city,  one-tenth  of  all  the  burials  are  in 
potter's  field,  and  forty  per  cent,  of  the  families  live  in 
one  room ;  in  this  city  are  tenements  not  fit  for  pigsties, 
where  women  fight  with  fever  and  infants  pant  for  air 
and  wail  out  their  little  lives ;  in  this  city  whole  sections 
are  given  over  to  vice  and  crime  and  slums,  and  at  every 
turn  is  the  brilliant  grog  shop  and  hard  by  is  the  gilded 
den  and  the  house  of  infamy.  A  Christian  society ! 
And  in  this  society  the  prizefighter  and  professional  ball- 
player receive  larger  salaries  and  more  newspaper  notice 
than  the  university  professor  or  the  Christian  prophet : 
in  this  society  the  rich  and  idle  spend  their  time  and 
money  on  tennis  and  golf,  in  horse-racing  and  bird- 
shooting,  while  millions  of  their  fellows  toil  without  rest 
or  hope ;  in  this  society  it  is  still  thought  necessary  to  build 
great  battleships  and  to  glorify  the  art  of  war.   A  Chris 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  437 

tian  State !  And  in  this  State  Congress  spends  far  more 
time  debating  questions  of  revenue  and  finance  than  edu- 
cation and  morality;  in  this  State  the  railroads  kill 
thousands  of  men  every  year  because  they  find  that  men 
are  cheaper  than  safety  appliances ;  in  this  State  measures 
to  protect  women  and  children  are  delayed  and  defeated, 
while  measures  to  protect  sheep  and  horses  are  im- 
mediately passed  and  enforced.  Yes,  some  would  say,  it 
is  a  Christian  State,  for  Christ  has  been  named  in  it ;  and 
thousands  of  spires  are  pointing  heavenward ;  hospitals 
and  schools  are  found  here  and  there  throughout  the  land, 
and  every  one  is  free  to  worship  God  as  his  conscience 
dictates.  No,  we  must  say  it  is  only  remotely  and  ap- 
proximately Christian  as  yet,  and  the  streets  of  the  new 
city  are  hardly  staked  out. 

But  that  this  Christian  State  is  beginning  to  appear 
and  society  is  moving  toward  its  goal,  must  also  be  con- 
fessed. The  State  is  becoming  Christian  and  men  are 
beginning  to  believe  that  it  is  not  necessary  that  there 
should  be  so  much  waste  in  society  with  so  many  lives 
stunted  and  disfigured ;  and  they  are  beginning  to  seek 
and  find  some  collective  means  and  methods  whereby 
they  may  seek  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  State  is 
becoming  Christian,  for  men  are  beginning  to  give  more 
attention  to  its  positive  than  to  its  negative  functions ; 
they  are  coming  to  see  that  the  State  is  the  conserver  of 
human  well-being  and  the  promoter  of  good  life ;  they 
are  beginning  to  consider  ways  and  means  for  equalizing 
opportunity  and  giving  every  child  a  fair  inheritance  in 
society;  the  State  is  becoming  Christian,  for  in  this 
America  the  most  splendid  building  is  a  library  which  is 
a  national  confession  of  faith;  and  in  this  land  men  are 
catching  glimpses  of  a  holy  city  coming  down  from  God 
out  of  heaven,  and  are  seeking  to  create  a  society  into 
which  nothing  enters  that  defiles.   The  State  is  becoming 


43« 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


Christian,  for  men  are  beginning  to  labor  for  a  social 
order  in  which  a  Christian  man  can  live  and  trade  without 
the  continual  temptation  to  sacrifice  principle  in  order  to 
maintain  one's  self ;  they  are  beginning  to  believe  that  it 
is  possible  to  build  in  the  earth  a  society  in  which  the 
children  of  God  can  live  as  brothers  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
can  find  itself  at  home.  Society  is  becoming  Christian, 
for  men  are  beginning  to  believe  in  the  divine  ideal,  and 
are  coming  to  feel  that  it  is  practicable  and  possible ;  they 
are  beginning  to  labor  that  this  world  may  be  a  purer 
place  for  children  to  be  born  into  and  a  fairer  world  for 
departing  saints  to  look  back  upon ;  they  are  beginning  to 
realize  that  the  building  up  in  the  earth  of  the  city  of 
God  is  the  task  that  is  set  before  them  all,  and  in  the 
prosecution  of  this  task  they  will  find  their  own  lives 
and  receive  the  seal  of  the  Father's  approval.  Yes,  the 
State  is  becoming  Christian,  for  men  are  beginning  to 
see  that  it  is  a  divinely  appointed  agency  in  the  making  of 
men,  and  is  the  best  medium  through  which  the  people 
may  co-operate  in  their  search  after  the  righteousness  of 
the  kingdom. 

But  the  State  will  not  be  fully  Christian  till  the  great 
principles  of  the  kingdom — righteousness,  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  with  their  modern  equivalents 
liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity — are  realized  in  the  in- 
dustrial, the  social,  and  the  political  systems  of  men  as 
well  as  in  their  personal  lives,  their  families,  and  their 
churches.  It  will  not  be  Christian  till  the  lowliest  mem- 
ber of  society  has  been  given  a  fair  opportunity  for  life, 
and  for  the  possession  and  appreciation  of  its  best  things. 
It  will  not  be  Christian  till  the  infinite  worth  of  every  man 
has  been  recognized,  and  conditions  have  been  secured 
which  shall  give  all  men  an  equal  opportunity  for  the 
expression  of  their  powers  and  the  development  of  their 
personalities.   It  will  not  be  Christian  till  human  brother- 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  439 

hood  has  become  as  real  in  the  industrial  world  as  in  the 
family  circle,  and  industry  "  is  so  organized  that  every 
honest  and  willing  worker  can  find  work,  and  work  so 
remunerative  as  to  give  him  and  his  children  an  oppor- 
tunity for  self-development  as  well  as  for  mere  life " 
(Abbott,  "  The  Evolution  of  Christianity,"  p.  201).  "  It 
will  not  be  fully  Christian  till  the  democracy  of  political 
power,  founded  upon  religion  and  education,  shall  be 
accompanied  with  a  social  and  industrial  democracy, 
wherein  the  tool  workers  have  become  tool  owners  and 
class  antagonisms  are  settled  by  the  simple  expedient  of 
making  the  same  class  of  men  both  capitalist  and  laborer. 
It  will  not  be  Christian  till  all  service  is  honorable  and 
all  idleness  is  dishonorable;  till  the  effort  to  get  money 
by  whatever  strategy  without  furnishing  a  fair  equivalent 
has  become  dishonorable  spoliation  and  is  treated  as 
treason  against  society.  It  will  not  be  Christian  till 
brain  and  hand  count  for  more  than  money  and  position 
in  the  world's  markets ;  till  the  maxims  of  the  present 
economic  system  are  reversed  and  money  has  become  the 
means  and  men  have  become  the  end  and  the  measure 
of  all  wealth  "  (Abbott,  ibid.,  pp.  200,  201). 

There  are  two  things  growing  out  of  all  this,  as  the 
conclusion  of  the  whole  matter,  that  may  be  noted : 

The  State  will  become  Christian  through  the  use  of 
Christian  means.  By  ignoring  this  principle  men  have 
gone  sadly  astray  in  their  thought  of  the  Christian  State 
and  its  coming;  by  remembering  this  principle  they  will 
be  saved  from  much  confusion  in  thought  and  much 
uncertainty  in  action.  After  all  that  has  been  said  it  is 
needless  to  illustrate  this  principle  in  detail ;  but  one  or 
two  things  may  be  emphasized  in  this  brief  summary. 

For  one  thing,  the  State  no  less  than  the  family  and  the 
church,  has  a  moral  life  and  attains  its  ends  by  moral 
means.   They  who  think  of  the  State  as  an  immoral  or  a 


440 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


non-moral  agency,  the  machinery  and  instrument  of  force 
and  compulsion  alone,  seeking  its  ends  wholly  by  brute 
strength  and  physical  power,  have  mistaken  a  part  for 
the  whole,  and  have  permitted  one  aspect  of  the  State's 
action  to  fill  the  whole  horizon.  The  State  may  use 
force  and  in  its  least  advanced  forms  it  may  rely  upon 
such  means ;  but  the  use  of  force  is  at  best  an  incident  in 
its  life  and  does  not  tell  the  whole  story.  However  it  may 
be  with  primitive  and  barbarous  States,  the  facts  will 
show  that  the  most  advanced  and  civilized  States  carry 
on  their  functions  with  comparatively  little  use  of  force. 
The  fact  is,  the  position  of  a  State  on  the  line  from  bar- 
barism to  Christianity  may  be  determined  by  its  reliance 
upon  compulsion  for  the  furtherance  of  its  aims.  The 
fact  is  also,  the  best  modern  States  carry  on  the  larger 
part  of  their  activities  with  little  appeal  to  force.  It  is 
far  within  the  truth  to  say  that  nine-tenths  of  the  State's 
activities  are  carried  on  without  even  the  threat  of  con- 
straint. It  is  manifest  to  all  that  the  system  of  educa- 
tion, the  vast  charitable  and  reformatory  agencies  of 
society,  and  the  hundred  and  one  other  interests  of  the 
modern  State  rely  almost  wholly  upon  moral  means  for 
their  operation  and  efficiency.  The  average  well-behaved 
citizen  in  a  civilized  community,  probably  not  three  times 
in  his  life,  ever  feels  the  strong  arm  of  the  State ;  so  far 
as  he  is  concerned  the  State  attains  its  ends  wholly  by  the 
use  of  social  and  moral  means. 

The  State  will  increasingly  become  Christian  through 
the  increased  use  of  Christian  means.  It  should  be 
needless  to  say,  after  all  that  has  been  said  in  this  study, 
that  we  do  not  expect  the  Christian  State  to  become  a 
reality  through  the  use  of  law  and  force  alone ;  but 
lest  any  one  should  fail  to  grasp  this  principle  we  empha- 
size it  here  with  all  the  stress  possible.  Law  has  its  func- 
tions to  fulfil  in  the  economy  of  life;  this  is  true  of  all 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  44I 

law,  and  it  is  no  less  true  of  civil  law.  Law  in  the 
State  may  imply  constraint,  but  this  is  not  the  whole  of 
the  case.  Law  has  an  educational  value  no  less  that 
is  deserving  of  more  attention  than  it  has  received.  One 
great  purpose  of  all  law  is  to  define  and  declare  what 
is  socially  right  and  wrong.  Thus  it  is  the  standard  of 
social  judgment  and  the  determiner  of  the  people's  con- 
science. "  The  statute  books  of  a  State,"  says  Bishop 
Doane,  "  are  to  be  not  only  the  expression  of  the  law, 
human  and  divine,  but  the  education  of  the  people  till 
they  know  the  meaning  and  authority  of  law.  .  .  The  true 
function  of  civil  law  is  not  only  to  enforce  the  right,  but 
to  elevate  man  to  true  perceptions  of  what  is  right " 
("  The  Forum,"  Feb.,  1896).  The  whole  story  of  the  Old 
Testament  economy  teaches  us  that  law,  whether  human 
or  divine — and  the  divine  law,  it  may  be  noted,  was  civil 
law  no  less — is  a  kind  of  pedagogue  leading  men  unto 
Christ. 

This  is  not  all,  but  as  society  becomes  more  Christian 
and  intelligent  there  will  be  less  and  less  necessity  for 
the  use  of  force,  for  the  reason  that  public  opinion  and 
social  judgment  will  become  more  and  more  potent.  The 
fact  is,  government  in  the  best  communities  is  government 
by  public  opinion;  what  may  be  called  the  social  judg- 
ment is  potent  enough  for  all  practical  purposes;  with 
this  public  opinion  and  social  judgment  becoming  ever 
more  masterful  and  intense  there  will  be  ever  less  and 
less  need  for  governmental  compulsion.  And  this  means 
that  psychical  and  moral  means  will  become  ever  more 
potent  and  dominant  in  the  life  of  the  State,  so  potent 
and  dominant  in  fact  as  to  make  unnecessary  an  appeal 
to  other  agencies.  All  this,  it  may  be  said,  is  in  perfect 
accord  with  the  teaching  of  modern  sociology  through  its 
best  interpreters.  Thus  Professor  Ross  tells  us  that  "  It 
is  necessary  to  regard  social  phenomena  as  essentially 


442 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


psychic,  and  to  look  for  their  immediate  causes  in  mind." 
Again,  the  causes  of  social  action  "  are  to  be  sought  in 
mental  processes,  its  forces  are  psychic  forces,  and  no 
ultimate  non-psychic  factors  should  be  recognized  until 
it  is  shown  just  how  they  are  able  to  affect  motives  and 
choice"  ("Foundations  of  Sociology,"  pp.  152,  161). 
Thus  also  Professor  Ward  shows  us  in  his  "  Dynamic 
Sociology  and  the  Psychic  Factors  of  Civilization," 
that  the  forces  operating  in  society  and  determining 
man's  conduct  are  primarily  psychic  and  spiritual  forces. 
In  the  last  analysis  the  State,  no  less  than  the  family  and 
the  church,  is  a  psychical  and  spiritual  realm  and  agency. 
As  the  State  becomes  more  intelligent  and  Christian  it 
will  give  an  ever-increasing  attention  to  its  higher  and 
positive  functions,  such  as  causes  and  conditions  of  social 
well-being,  and  consequently  it  will  find  an  ever-decreas- 
ing call  for  the  use  of  its  lower  and  primitive  functions, 
such  as  the  purely  police  and  defensive  functions.  That 
is,  as  the  State  becomes  more  intelligent  and  Christian 
the  police  and  punitive  functions  will  fall  into  the  back- 
ground and  the  more  Christian  aims  and  characteristics 
will  grow  and  intensify  and  dominate.  And  thus,  as  the 
State  becomes  more  Christian,  the  appeal  to  force  will  be- 
come less  and  less  necessary,  for  the  reason  that  the 
necessity  for  its  use  is  less  urgent.  In  fact,  as  the  State 
becomes  more  Christian,  it  will  seek  to  make  unnecessary 
the  use  of  force  at  all  in  its  unceasing  attention  to  the 
things  which  make  for  true  peace  and  progress.  In  the 
home,  in  the  best  of  homes,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to 
employ  force  in  order  to  rescue  a  child  from  danger, 
and  to  use  constraint  for  the  child's  own  good.  There  is 
probably  not  a  home  in  the  land  where  the  need  has 
never  arisen  for  the  use  of  such  force  and  constraint,  as 
there  is  probably  not  a  home  in  the  land  where  force 
or  constraint  has  never  been  most  usefully  employed. 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  443 

But  in  the  home,  in  the  home  that  is  even  approximately 
Christian,  the  aim  of  the  parents  is  to  render  the  resort 
to  force  and  compulsion  wholly  unnecessary.  No  home 
is  possible  without  discipline  of  some  kind ;  but  the  better 
the  discipline  the  less  necessity  there  is  for  constraint. 
The  same  principle  applies  to  the  State,  and  for  pre- 
cisely the  same  reasons.  In  the  State  that  is  becoming 
Christian  the  unceasing  aim  of  the  State  is — whether 
through  the  use  of  compulsion  or  not — to  make  unneces- 
sary all  appeal  to  force.  The  Christian  State,  like  the 
Christian  man,  the  Christian  family,  and  the  Christian 
church  is  a  becoming;  and  it  is,  therefore,  as  legitimate 
to  speak  of  the  one  as  of  the  other,  and  for  precisely 
the  same  reason.  The  full  comprehension  of  this  principle 
will  do  much  to  clarify  our  thought  and  to  determine  our 
action. 

Thus,  the  Christian  State  will  become  a  reality  through 
the  Christian  use  of  Christian  methods.  In  the  Christian 
conception  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth  we  have  the 
ideal  of  a  human  society,  a  city  of  God  come  down  to  men. 
In  the  Christian  conception  of  the  State  we  have  the  idea 
of  a  human  institution  that  is  one  of  the  spheres  of 
manifestation  of  the  life  of  the  kingdom  and  one  of 
the  agencies  for  the  kingdom's  realization  in  the  world. 
And  in  the  Christian  conception  of  the  mean  3  and  methods 
of  the  kingdom  we  have  the  emphasis  laid  u\  on  moral  and 
spiritual  means  working  through  the  methods  of  life  and 
growth.  The  man  who  cherishes  the  vision  of  the  city  of 
God  that  comes  down  to  earth  is  thereby  pledged  to  go  out 
into  the  world  and  build  a  city  after  the  divine  pattern. 
The  man  who  believes  in  the  divine  meaning  of  the  State 
has  a  divine  commission  to  go  out  into  society  and  seek 
the  divine  kingdom  through  the  life  of  the  State.  The 
man  who  possesses  the  new  life  of  the  kingdom,  like  the 
leaven  and  the  salt,  is  to  live  and  serve  that  the  life  of 


444  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

society  may  be  both  sweetened  and  transformed.  The 
people  who  have  a  political  conscience  quickened  by  the 
Christian  spirit  will  write  into  civil  laws  the  principles  of 
fair  dealing  and  brotherhood  that  are  fundamental  in 
Christianity. 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  in  no  formal  and  mechanical  way 
do  men  seek  the  kingdom  of  God;  not  by  any  arbitrary 
and  institutional  methods  do  they  use  the  machinery  of 
the  civil  government.  For  Christianity  is  less  a  mold  of 
doctrine  than  a  spirit  of  life ;  it  rules  men,  not  by  edicts, 
but  by  inspirations.  It  conquers  the  world,  not  by  force 
of  arms,  but  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit.  Jesus  did  not 
come  to  give  men  a  code  of  laws,  but  an  ideal  of  life. 
He  did  not  come  to  found  an  institution,  but  to  give  men 
a  new  spirit.  The  State,  it  follows,  becomes  Christian, 
not  by  the  insertion  of  the  name  of  Christ  in  the  consti- 
tution or  by  the  enactment  into  statutes  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount.  The  State,  it  is  evident,  becomes  Christian 
rather  by  the  infusing  of  the  Christian  spirit  into  all  the 
relations  of  life  and  the  gradual  transformation  of  so- 
ciety into  the  ideal  of  Christ.  On  the  walls  of  the  Palace 
of  the  Signoria,  in  Florence,  is  an  inscription,  placed 
there  some  four  hundred  years  ago  by  the  Mayor  Niccolo 
Capprivi,  which  records  how  in  the  city  council  and  after- 
ward in  the  public  assembly,  the  people  of  Florence 
solemnly  elected  Jesus  Christ  king  of  the  city,  and 
pledged  themselves  to  be  loyal  to  him. 

Jesus 

Christus  Rex  Gloriae,  venit  in  pace; 
Christus  vincit;  Christus  re  gnat; 

Christus  imperat; 
Christus  ab  otnni  malo  nos  defendat. 

That  was  a  purely  formal  transaction,  and  as  history 
shows,  availed  little.    The  mere  insertion  of  the  name  of 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  445 

Christ  in  the  constitution,  the  formal  acknowledgment  oi 
his  kingship,  the  recognition  of  his  authority  by  some 
popular  vote,  may  tell  us  something  about  the  life  of  a 
people,  but  these  things  are  not  sufficient  to  create  the 
Christian  State.  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  become  the 
kingdom  of  our  God  by  the  realization  of  the  life  of 
the  kingdom  in  the  life  of  the  State  and  the  transfor- 
mation of  the  institutions  of  the  State  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  The  Christian  spirit  must  create  the  Christian 
State.  The  Christian  State  is  only  a  matter  of  time  and 
patience. 

The  practice  of  citizenship  is  the  highest  expression 
of  the  Christian  life  and  the  best  preparation  for  the 
future.  According  to  the  oldest  tradition  of  our  race  man 
began  his  career  in  a  garden  as  an  isolated  individual, 
with  only  the  woman  at  first  to  share  his  fortunes.  Ac- 
cording to  the  closing  chapter  of  Revelation,  humanity 
culminates  its  course  in  a  city,  with  its  myriads  of  in- 
habitants, wherein  men  live  together  in  solidarity  and 
peace.  This  may  mean  many  things,  but  only  one  or  two 
things  may  be  noted  here.  Heaven  is  pictured  as  a  city, 
and  so  it  follows  that  man's  preparation  for  heaven  is 
preparation  for  life  in  a  city.  Here  on  earth  man  is  a 
member  of  society,  and  this  means  that  the  practice  of 
citizenship  in  an  earthly  society  is  the  best  preparation 
that  man  can  make  for  life  in  heaven.  That  this  is  so  is 
shown  in  several  ways. 

In  the  quality  of  the  ideal  that  one  seeks  in  and 
through  the  State  we  can  measure  the  height  of  his 
apprehension  of  the  ideal  of  Christ.  The  ideal  of  Christ, 
the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  is  a  comprehensive  and 
universal  ideal,  as  wide  as  the  nature  of  man,  and  as 
all-inclusive  as  the  purpose  of  God.  One  man  construes 
the  Christian  ideal  in  personal  terms ;  another  widens  it 
to  the  dimensions  of  a  church ;  a  third  conceives  it  as  a 


446 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


restful  life  in  some  other  world ;  and  so  the  story  runs 
through  all  the  scale.  In  the  most  real  sense  the  quality 
and  breadth  of  a  man's  vision  are  shown  in  the  ideal  that 
he  seeks  in  and  through  his  actual  social  life.  Again, 
the  quality  of  a  man's  faith  is  revealed  in  his  vision  of 
the  ideal  and  his  devotion  to  it.  "  Faith,"  says  George 
Matheson,  "  is  a  moral  aspiration ;  it  is  the  sight  of  an 
ideal  and  the  steadfast  loyalty  to  that  ideal  in  daily  life." 
"  To  see  the  kingdom  of  God  is  to  be  already  in  possession 
of  that  kingdom,  for  it  is  only  seen  by  that  spiritual 
similarity  which  enables  kindred  minds  to  recognize 
each  other's  powers"  ("Landmarks  of  N.  T.  Morality," 
p.  106).  To  be  justified  by  faith,  is  to  see  the  ideal,  and 
to  believe  that  it  is  the  only  thing  worth  following.  Thus 
in  the  way  that  a  man  seeks  the  ideal  of  Christ  does  he 
show  the  real  nature  of  his  faith  and  declare  that  he  is 
living  a  justified  life.  The  man  who  is  fully  justified 
by  faith  is  the  man  who  has  a  vision  for  his  whole 
life  and  has  dedicated  himself  with  all  his  powers  to  the 
ideal  of  the  kingdom. 

Then,  in  the  way  that  a  man  takes  thought  for  others 
and  serves  the  common  life  does  he  show  the  reality 
of  his  Christian  profession.  The  Christian  life  is  a  life 
of  service;  to  bear  one  another's  burdens  is  to  fulfil  the 
law  of  Christ;  and  to  sanctify  one's  self  for  the  sake  of 
others  is  the  very  spirit  of  Christ.  The  State,  we  have 
learned,  is  the  medium  of  the  mutual  sacrifices  and 
services  of  the  people ;  it  is  the  one  agency  through  which 
all  the  people  can  co-operate  in  their  search  for  justice ; 
it  is,  in  fine,  the  most  potent  and  masterful  organization  of 
man's  social  life.  Thus  the  man  who  would  serve  in  his 
day  and  generation  will  serve  the  State  of  which  he  is  a 
member.  Thus  the  good  man  is  the  good  citizen,  and  the 
bad  citizen  cannot  be  a  good  man.  The  practice  of 
citizenship  is  the  flower  and  fruitage  of  a  man's  spiritual 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  447 

life ;  one  may  be  called  a  good  man  in  so  far  as  he  plays 
the  citizen  and  lives  for  the  common  good.  The  man 
who  believes  in  the  kingdom  of  God  has  a  vision  of  a 
holy  city ;  that  is,  he  has  a  vision  of  what  a  city — his  city 
— ought  to  be.  He  is  hence  called  to  go  out  into  the  city 
where  he  dwells  and  build  on  earth  a  city  after  the  model 
of  the  city  in  the  skies.  He  is  to  do  what  in  him  lies  to 
cast  out  of  the  cities  of  earth — out  of  his  own  city — the 
things  that  offend,  that  work  abomination  and  that  make 
a  lie.  He  is  moved  to  put  his  life  in  pledge  in  behalf  of 
a  city  where  no  one  is  wronged  or  trodden  under  foot, 
where  straight  paths  are  made  for  men's  feet  and  all 
stumbling-blocks  are  taken  out  of  the  way,  a  city  where 
all  have  access  to  the  Tree  of  Life  and  all  are  partakers 
of  its  fruits.  The  man  who  does  this  shows  that  he  is  a 
citizen  of  the  kingdom  and  is  an  heir  of  eternal  life ;  the 
man  who  neglects  these  things  shows  that  he  is  yet  in  the 
gall  of  bitterness  and  the  bond  of  iniquity,  and  he  has 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  shall  ever  stand  within  the 
pearly  gates.  The  man  who  hopes  to  live  in  the  city  of 
God  when  time  shall  be  no  more,  for  the  present  at  least, 
must  learn  to  live  his  deepest  and  truest  life  amid  the 
masterful  organizations  of  the  social  order  and  to  find  the 
witness  of  his  sonship  in  his  concern  for  the  common 
welfare.  Heaven  is  a  city,  and  the  best  preparation  for 
heaven  is  the  practice  of  citizenship.  Thus  each  man  who 
believes  in  the  kingdom  of  God  and  has  the  vision  of  a 
city  of  God,  just  where  he  is  must  seek  that  kingdom. 
Each  man  where  he  is  must  learn  to  live  in  such  a  way 
that  if  all  other  men  lived  as  he  lives,  the  kingdom  of  God 
would  be  fully  come.  The  Christian  life  is  a  life  of  serv- 
ice. In  the  long  run  the  color  and  quality  of  a  man's 
social  relations  are  the  infallible  tests  of  his  faith  in  God 
and  his  love  for  Christ. 

Finally,  in  the  light  of  all  this,  we  see  the  meaning  of 


448 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 


man's  social  and  political  life.  The  life  of  man  and  his 
progress,  the  relations  of  man  with  man  in  society,  these 
are  the  real  and  vital  things,  and  all  other  matters  are 
but  symbols  and  appearances.  Questions  of  rights  and 
liberties,  problems  of  money  and  trade,  all  have  a  vast 
and  vital  interest  because  of  their  relation  to  man  and 
his  social  welfare.  They,  the  politicians  and  materialists, 
who  see  in  these  questions  and  problems  nothing  more 
than  the  superficial  things,  such  as  rights  and  liberties, 
money  and  trade,  mistake  shadows  for  substance  and  miss 
the  whole  meaning  of  life.  But  they,  the  seers  and 
statesmen,  who  go  behind  these  superficial  things  and  con- 
sider men  and  the  relations  which  underlie  them  all,  and 
who  view  these  objective  things  in  the  light  of  their 
human  and  spiritual  meaning,  see  that  all  things  have  a 
divine  and  spiritual  value.  The  Christian  who  looks  out 
upon  the  great  world  of  man's  social  and  political  life, 
and  sees  in  it  nothing  more  and  higher  than  the  mere 
struggle  of  men  for  honors  and  possessions,  is  blind 
and  does  not  know  the  real  meaning  of  his  religion. 

In  the  light  of  the  Christian  conception  of  things,  the 
world  of  politics  is  not  by  any  means  the  secular  and 
vulgar  world  that  men  have  supposed.  The  fact  is,  the 
man  who  looks  upon  politics  in  this  way  shows  thereby 
that  he  is  himself  a  vulgar  and  unspiritual  man.  In  the 
light  of  the  Christian  conception  of  things,  what  we  call 
politics  in  their  inner  nature  are  essentially  moral  and 
spiritual.  The  fact  is,  human  relations,  whether  in  the 
home,  the  church,  or  in  the  State,  are  the  fundamental 
realities  and  underlie  all  such  things  as  trade  and  money ; 
these  human  relations  are  essentially  spiritual,  and  there 
is  no  difference  in  sanctity  between  what  we  call  church 
relations  and  political  relations.  The  State,  no  less  than 
the  church  and  the  family,  is  a  medium  through  which 
man  holds  communion  with  God  and  fulfils  his  purpose, 


THE  REALIZATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE  44Q 


and  the  State  equally  with  the  church  and  the  family  is 
a  means  through  which  the  life  of  God  is  getting  itself 
reborn  into  the  life  of  humanity.  The  State  no  less  than 
the  family  and  the  church  is  a  moral  and  spiritual  insti- 
tution, and  what  are  called  social  and  political  questions 
are  at  heart  moral  and  spiritual  questions.  In  the  world, 
as  nowhere  else,  in  the  world  of  politics  more  than  any- 
where else,  men  show  what  manner  of  men  they  are  and 
prove  the  reality  of  their  Christian  faith.  In  their  daily 
life — and  in  their  political  life  in  the  fullest  degree — the 
real  religion  of  a  people  is  expressed  and  realized.  Their 
political  institutions  are  the  best  definition  of  a  nation's 
faith.  Custom  is  sentiment  that  has  become  habitual. 
Civilization  is  simply  applied  conscience.  Their  laws  are 
a  people's  interpretations  of  the  Golden  Rule.  In  their 
political  life  we  have  the  highest  expression  of  a  people's 
religion,  and  in  their  practice  of  citizenship  we  read 
men's  fitness  for  life  in  the  city  of  God. 

It  may  be  many  long  generations  before  the  political 
State  is  fully  Christian  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  fully 
come.  It  may  be,  indeed,  that  the  men  who  confess  the 
faith  we  have  suggested  may  be  set  down  as  dreamers 
and  may  receive  scant  respect  in  this  present  generation. 
But  it  is  well  for  us  to  remember  that  the  ideals  and 
dreams  of  yesterday  have  become  the  commonplace 
actualities  of  to-day.  And  it  may  be  well  to  remember 
also  that  the  men  for  whom  the  future  has  no  promise  are 
the  men  who  have  no  ideal ;  the  man  who  has  no  ideal  is 
a  dead  soul  and  already  is  living  in  the  outer  dark- 
ness. It  may  be  a  misfortune  to  have  an  ideal  that  is  im- 
possible ;  it  may  bring  on  one  the  scorn  of  the  world  to 
follow  the  ideal  of  Christ  in  the  political  world ;  but  it  is  a 
fatal  sin  to  have  no  ideal  at  all ;  and  it  is  treason  against 
the  Christ  to  have  his  ideal,  and  yet  deem  it  impracticable. 
The  hope  of  a  Christian  State  in  this  present  world  is  vain 

2D 


45°  THE  CHRISTIAN  STATE 

Jand  Utopian  ?  It  may  be  so  to  those  who  have  no  faith  ; 
but  to  the  man  who  believes  in  God  and  is  willing  to 
serve  in  his  generation  it  ought  to  be  the  most  certain 
I  thing  in  the  world. 

"  I  understand ;  you  speak  of  that  city  of  which  we  are 
the  founders,  and  which  exists  in  idea  only ;  for  I  do  not 
think  that  there  is  such  an  one  anywhere  on  earth  ? 

"  In  heaven,  I  replied,  there  is  laid  up  a  pattern  of  such 
a  city,  and  he  who  desires  may  behold  this,  and  beholding, 
govern  himself  accordingly.  But  whether  there  really  is 
or  ever  will  be  such  an  one  is  of  no  importance  to  him ; 
for  he  will  act  according  to  the  law  of  that  city  and  no 
other. 

"  True,  he  said  "  (Plato,  "  The  Republic,"  Bk.  IX,  sec. 
592). 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Lyman :  defines  rights  of 
man,  225;  describes  modern  com- 
mercial kings,  227;  quoted  on  the 
State  fully  Christian,  439. 

Adams,  Henry  C,  shows  the  rela- 
tion of  the  State  to  industry,  393. 

Adler,  Felix,  quoted  on  reign  of 
mammonism,  395. 

Aggression  by  monopoly  control,  228. 

Agnostic  theory  of  the  State  de- 
fined, 212. 

Amendment  to  the  Constitution,  140. 

Araiel,  Henri  F.,  fears  for  demo- 
cratic society,  212. 

Anabaptists:  contended  for  liberty  of 
conscience,  274;  led  by  Hiibmaier 
and  Denck,  130;  wanted  a  social 
reformation,  130. 

Anarchists:  their  ideal  of  the  State, 
80;  divided  into  two  groups,  revo- 
lutionary and  philosophical,  80  f. 

Anarchy:  a  mission  of,  81;  not  ab- 
sence of  all  association,  84. 

Andrews,  E.  Benj.,  gives  objections 
to  Socialism,  96. 

Apocalypse  of  St.  John:  is  a  po- 
litical vision,  410;  describes  in 
outline  a  holy  city,  256. 

Aristocratic  elements  in  society  nec- 
essary, 107. 

Aristocratic  views  of  human  nature 
given,  346. 

Aristocracy:  defined,  106;  is  non- 
progressive, 107;  is  necessary 
where  true,  107. 

Aristotle:  declares  that  man  is  a 
political  being,  23;  defines  the 
nature  of  the  State,  65;  discusses 
democratic  government,  116;  ex- 
plains the  objects  of  the  State, 
16.  30;  gives  history  of  demo- 
cratic experiments,  186;  shows 
that  virtue  is  concern  of  the 
State.  56. 

Arnold,  Matthew:  believes  in  democ- 
racy, 156;  considers  chief  value  of 
democracy,  168. 

Arnold,  Thomas:  criticizes  Constan- 
tine  and  his  influence,  268:  de- 
fines relation  of  Church  and  State, 
282;  gives  definition  of  the  church, 
408. 

Augustine,  declares  that  Christianity 
is  as  old  as  creation,  144. 

Babylonian  captivity,  as  affecting 
Israel,  260. 


Bakunin,  Michale,  states  the  mission 
of  anarchy,  81. 

Bancroft,  George:  describes  May- 
flower compact,  134;  praises  Roger 
Williams,  136. 

Baptists:  contend  for  freedom  of 
conscience,  274;  in  Virginia  and 
Massachusetts  plead  for  liberty, 
277  f- 

Bascora,  John,  asks  that  State  shall 
protect  all  its  members,  385  f. 

Batten.  S.  Z. :  defines  politics  as 
science  of  social  welfare,  16; 
quoted  on  "  The  Redemption  of 
the  Unfit,"  352. 

Bax,  Balfort:  discusses  influence  of 
guilds,  121;  shows  that  Reforma- 
tion was  a  social  revolt,  252. 

Beaulieu,  Leroy:  asks  that  State  con- 
cern itself  with  human  conditions, 
62;  defines  the  conception  of  the 
State,  18;  shows  that  the  State 
is  not  inventive,  65. 

Beginnings  of  democracy,  considered 
in  Chap.  VI. 

Blackie,  John  Stuart  quoted  on  the 
teaching  of  history,  257. 

Blackstone's  conception  of  law,  214. 

Bluntschli,  J.  K. :  considers  re- 
lation of  Church  and  State,  258; 
criticizes  the  social  contract,  48; 
defines  ideal  of  aristocracy,  106; 
describes  the  State,  23;  discusses 
theocracy  in  Israel,  103;  finds  that 
force  is  not  origin  of  the  State,  42 ; 
finds  origin  of  State  in  natural 
sociability  of  man,  48  f;  gives 
characteristics  of  all  States,  19: 
quoted  on  the  necessity  of  the 
State,  77;  shows  true  end  of  the 
State,  65. 

Boardman,  George  Dana,  criticizes 
alliance  of  Church  and  State,  268. 

Boniface  VIII,  asserts  papal  sover- 
eignty, 269. 

Borgeaud,  Charles:  describes  Inde- 
pendents of  England,  133;  ex- 
plains "  The  Agreement  of  the 
People  of  England,"  133. 

Bosanquet,  Bernard,  discusses  So- 
cialism ancient   and   modern,  95. 

Boss,  a  menace  in  political  life,  193  f. 

Bossism,  defeats  democracy,  195. 

Brierley,  J.,  says  that  society  makes 
criminals,  368  f. 

Brinton.  D.  G.  finds  culture  is  only 
possible  in  the  group,  90. 


451 


452 


INDEX 


Brooks,  J.  G.,  praises  labor  unions, 
250. 

Brotherhood:  as  related  to  democ- 
racy, 143;  in  social  and  political 
life,  376  f. 

Brown,  C.  R.,  quoted  on  microbes  as 
teachers  of  brotherhood,  179. 

Browning,  Robert,  was  a  universal 
poet,  154. 

Brownson,  O.  A.,  quoted  on  freedom 
of  denial,  218. 

Bryce,  James:  defines  civil  and 
church  power,  268;  describes  pub- 
lic opinion,  202;  explains  bene- 
fits of  organization,  230;  fears 
possible  decay  of  religion,  325; 
shows  results  of  union  of  Church 
and  State,  284. 

Bundschuh,  The  League  of,  appears, 

Bunyan,  John,  service  of,  in  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress,"  13. 

Burke,  Edmund:  finds  civil  society 
necessary  to  man,  89;  has  a  high 
conception  of  the  State,  31. 

Burns,  Robert,  poet  of  the  people, 
«S». 

Calvin,  John:  endeavors  to  estab- 
lish a  Christian  commonwealth, 
272;  gave  the  State  a  theological 
basis,  423. 

Capitalism,  controls  modern  society, 
395- 

Carlyle,  Thomas:  calls  economics  the 
dismal  science,  395  f;  declares  uni- 
verse built  on  moral  principles, 
213;  praises  the  man  of  letters, 
148. 

Catholic  Church,  as  allied  with  civil 

power,  124. 
Causes  of  disease  and  crime  to  be 

studied,  75  f. 
Channing,  W.  E.,  declares  the  State 

is  non-Christian,  86. 
Checks  and  balances,  in  American 

Constitution,  238. 
Child  labor,  a  modern  problem,  342  f. 
Childhood,  to  be  protected,  73. 
Christian  Church:  has  a  great  work, 

418;  considered  in  its  origin,  262 

f;  and  State  considered  in  Chap. 

XI. 

Christian  family,  a  reality,  417. 
Christian  ideal,  sets  men  great  tasks, 
419. 

Christian  men:  are  to  serve  in  the 
State,  443;  called  to  make  Chris- 
tian State^  427. 

Christian  spirit:  a  determining  factor 
in  life,  429 ;  is  all  pervasive, 
428;  is  at  work  in  society,  432, 
368;  has  certain  characteristics, 
408. 

Christian  society,  is  not  institutional, 
42  5- 

Christian  State:  defined,  421;  con- 
sidered in  Chap.  XI;  is  a  growing 
reality,  407;  throws  emphasis  upon 
moral  means,  443. 


Christian  virtues,  essentially  social, 
416. 

Christianity:  a  dominant  factor  in 
life,  10;  creates  problems  in  democ- 
racy, 328;  has  certain  essential 
ideas,  322;  is  essentially  demo 
cratic,  147;  is  the  greatest  social 
force,  321  f  ;  often  misunderstood 
by  many,  40;  has  new  social  tasks. 
419;  must  dominate  all  life,  420. 

Church:  defined  as  the  Household  at 
Faith,  20;  in  early  times  hostile  to 
State,  265;  established,  not  do 
sirable,  284;  has  a  social  meaning, 
21;  its  formation  described,  261. 

Church  and  State:  among  the  Jews, 
259;  among  Semitic  peoples,  258; 
medieval  conception  of,  268;  in 
India,  Persia,  and  Rome,  286  f; 
efforts  to  unite,  270;  considered 
in  possible  relations,  280;  efforts 
to  separate,  269  f  ;  must  not  be 
united,  282;  not  satisfactory  with 
either  in  subordination,  281 ;  have 
certain  right  relations,  291  f  ;  sep- 
arated in  New  England,  269. 

Citizen:  must  prove  his  faith  in 
civic  service,  447;  with  the  Chris- 
tian spirit,  428. 

Citizenship:  is  highest  expression  of 
Christian  life,  445;  when  incom- 
petent a  peril,  187;  proves  reality 
of  one's  religion,  445. 

Clarke,  J.  B.,  on  the  rule  of  knight- 
hood in  society,  71. 

Classification,  of  States,  101  f. 

Climatic  conditions  to  be  conserved 
by    State,  62. 

Competition,  may  be  regulated  by 
the  State,  71  f. 

Conditions:  general  conditions  of 
life,  61 ;  industrial  should  be  care 
of  State,  63;  of  a  good  life  for  all, 
379  f  ;  may  be  improved  by  State 
action,  382. 

Confucius,  confesses  failure  to  save 
men,  316. 

Confusion,  in  view  of  social  changes, 
11. 

Conquest,    as   a   theory   of  State's 

origin,  40  f. 
Conscience,   will  become  Christian, 
_  435-  ... 

Constantine,  his  conversion  and  in- 
fluence. 267. 

Constitution  of  the  United  States: 
its  checks  and  balances,  238;  Pre- 
amble of.  quoted.  57;  Amended  by 
Article  XV. 

Constitutional  Convention,  in  Phila- 
delphia, 139. 

Cook.  Joseph,  quoted  on  public  du- 
ties of  man,  333. 

Cooley,  C.  H..  contends  that  ideal 
should  be  organic,  359. 

Corruption  in  politics,  a  menace. 
334- 

Criminals:  harshly  treated  in  the 
past,  367  f  ;  to  be  reformed  by 
social  action,  369. 


INDEX 


453 


Dangers  of  democracy,  considered, 
185  f. 

Davidson,  quoted  on  Church  and 
State  in  Israel,  259. 

Declaration  of  Independence, 
adopted,  139. 

De  Coulanges,  Foustel:  finds  that 
State  is  founded  on  religion,  102; 
shows  that  religion  constituted 
family,  294. 

Defensive  functions  of  the  State, 
named,  58  f. 

De  Laveleye:  demands  social  oppor- 
tunity for  all  in  democracy,  353; 
quoted  on  divine  order  of  hu- 
man society,  399  f. 

Democracy:  its  advantages  con- 
sidered, 166  f  ;  a  matter  of 
habitual  practice,  254;  a  world- 
wide movement,  9;  a  confession 
of  the  equality  of  men,  167;  a 
confession  of  confidence  in  man, 
178;  a  confession  of  human 
brotherhood,  253;  at  last  appears 
in  fact,  136;  is  described  by 
Herodotus,  101;  considers  the  in- 
terests of  ah,  180 ;  creates  some 
special  tasks,  393 ;  demands  a  pub- 
lic spirit,  333;  depends  upon  grow- 
ing conception  of  brotherhood, 
143;  drift  toward,  considered, 
142  f  ;  foregleams  of,  in  history 
and  literature,  116;  has  its  in- 
spiration in  Christianity,  147;  has 
some  great  fundamental  ideas, 
243;  has  various  forms,  108;  has 
personal  advantages,  106  f  ;  has 
some  social  benefits,  175;  has 
some  political  advantages,  180  f  ; 
implies  mutual  responsibilities, 
181;  in  its  primary  affirmation, 
167;  is  feared  by  many,  237;  is 
becoming  a  fact,  216;  is  inevitable 
where  Christianity  is  regnant, 
165;  is  training  men  in  citizen- 
ship, 170  f  ;  its  beginnings  con- 
sidered, 115  f  ;  is  moving  in  line 
of  God's  purpose,  164;  gathers 
momentum  as  its  grows,  160; 
means  organized  self-control,  215; 
means  freedom  of  self-expression, 
173;  must  become  positive,  244; 
must  become  a  people's  govern- 
ment, 247;  must  become  industrial 
and  social,  249  f;  needs  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  323;  not  esteemed 
highly  by  Aristotle,  109;  of  all 
life  is  next  step,  243;  opens  door 
to  highest  station,  182;  unfinished 
tasks  of  democracy  considered, 
216  f;  various  aspects  of  demo- 
cratic drift,  in  f. 

Demagogue:  described  by  Aristotle, 
190;  is  a  peril  in  a  democracy, 
191. 

Denck,  a  leader  of  the  Anabaptists, 

131- 

Dennis,  James  S.,  quoted  on  power 

of  Christianity,  319. 
De  Tocqueville,   declares  that  gov- 


ernments neglected  will  degener- 
ate, 329. 

Devine,  E.  T.,  quoted  on  new  crimi- 
nology, 370. 

Differences  among  men,  noted,  380. 

Direct  legislation,  by  the  people,  237. 

Direct  nomination  of  candidates, 
242. 

Disinherited,  The:  a  modern  prob- 
lem, 339;  handicapped  by  adverse 
conditions,  382  f;  not  here  in  the 
will  of  God,  387. 

Dismal  science,  denounced  by  Car- 
lyle,  395- 

Distrust  of  democracy,  common, 
237- 

Edersheim,  Alfred:  on  Israel's  repu- 
diation of  divine  king,  37. 

Education:  to  be  promoted  by  the 
State,  73;  greatly  promotes  democ- 
racy, 157;  not  adequate  to-day, 
343- 

Eliot,  George,  had  democratic  spirit, 
156. 

Elliott,  Ebenezer,  quoted,  114. 
Ely,  Prof.  R.  T.,  defines  Socialism, 
93- 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  sings  of  freedom, 
I5S. 

Environment,  a  potent  factor  in  life, 
380. 

Fairbairn,  A.  M. :  declares  democ- 
racy is  Christian  in  origin,  141; 
finds  essence  of  Christianity  is  a 
human  society,  317;  quoted  on 
breadth  of  salvation,  414. 

Family:  its  origin  and  meaning,  20; 
its  relation  to  the  Church  and 
State,  19  f. 

Fichte,  quoted  on  Christianity  in 
State,  399. 

Fiske,  John,  claims  American  his- 
tory begins  in  Germany,  119. 

Fitness,  shown  in  a  democracy,  183. 

Fremantle,  W.  H.:  declares  man's 
work  is  to  found  a  Christian  State, 
256;  quoted  in  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity in  State,  399. 

Functions  of  the  State:  considered, 
54  f;  nature  of,  56  f;  positive  and 
negative   considered,  77. 

Galton,  Francis,  describes  genius  in 

Greek  States,  117. 
Germanic  peoples,  were  democratic, 

"9- 

Gibbon,  Edward,  on  the  conversion 
of  Constantine,  267. 

Giddings,  F.  H.,  quoted  on  decay 
of  republican  institutions,  217. 

Oilman,  N.  P.,  on  American  govern- 
ment versus  Socialism,  180. 

Godkiri,  E.  L.,  on  real  problems  of 
democracy,  331. 

Gold,  to  be  placed  under  foot,  397. 

Golden  Rule,  in  politics,  429. 

Government,  has  been  distrusted, 
246. 


454 


INDEX 


Great  Charter,  120. 

Green,  Thos.  H.,  on  the  limits  of 
freedom,  27. 

Guilds,  prepared  men  for  democ- 
racy, 121. 

Guizot,  defines  power  of  English 
Parliament,  120. 

Hall,  G.  Stanley,  on  society  making 
criminals,  368. 

Harrison,  Frederic,  on  need  of  so- 
cial ideal,  305. 

Heath,  Richard,  on  social  side  of 
German  Reformation,  252. 

Heaven,  pictured  in  Apocalypse  as  a 
city,  447. 

Hegel:  claims  State  is  not  based 
upon  force,  43;  explains  will  of 
God  is  relation  to  State,  52. 

Hobson,  John,  hopes  progress  will 
become  rational,  256. 

Hodges,  George,  defines  causes  of 
modern  age,  157. 

Hooker,  suggests  social  contract 
theory,  43. 

Hosmer,  on  the  coming  up  of  the 
serfs,  120. 

Howerth,  quoted  on  power  of  capi- 
talism, 226. 

Human  nature,  a  constant  quality, 
380. 

Huxley:  deplores  conditions  of 
modern  society,  91 ;  gives  defini- 
tion of  anarchy,  80;  shows  that 
anarchy  is  impossible,  85. 

Ideal  of  the  State:  considered,  79  f; 
needed  in  modern  society,  79;  and 
religion,  303. 

Idealists,  only  effective  realists,  304. 

Individual  initiative:  versus  State 
action,  65;  narrowing,  233. 

Individualistic  type  of  State,  de- 
scribed, 85  f. 

Industrial  forces,  now  controlled  by 
few,  227. 

Inheritance:  for  each  to  be  secured 
in  society,  247;  to  be  made  possi- 
ble for  all,  386  f. 

Initiative  and  referendum,  needed, 
241..     .         .        ,  ,  . 

Injustice  in  society,  defined,  373. 

Intemperance,  a  serious  problem  in 
democracy,  337. 

Interests  of  men  often  in  conflict,  68. 

Israel,  an  illustration  of  theocracy, 
102. 

Jellinek:  declares  democracy  of 
Christian  origin,  114;  finds  idea 
of  rights  of  religious  origin,  123; 
pays  tribute  to  Roger  Williams, 
277;  shows  why  democracy  never 
applied  in  England,  134. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth:  gives  idea  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  410:  his  life 
guarantee  of  equality,  146;  his  life 
shows  worth  of  man,  145:  rules 
world  by  his  ideal,  306;  teaches 
God's  Fatherhood,  146. 


John,  king  of  England,  objects  to 

Magna  Charta,  161. 
Jones,  Henry,  quoted  on  solidarity, 

176. 

Jones,  R.  M.:  on  the  individual  and 
society,  32;  shows  man  is  a  social 
being,  412. 

Jones,  S.  M.,  on  men's  life  princi- 
ples, 332. 

Josephus,  on  theocracy,  102. 

Jubilee,  its  law  of  release,  390. 

Judson,  H.  P.,  quoted  on  democracy, 

215-      .  ... 

Justice:  is  a  growing  thing,  372; 
must  be  established  by  social  ac- 
tion, 375;  to  be  administered  with  a 
saving  purpose,  367  f;  to  be  main- 
tained throughout  society,  371  f. 

Justification  by  faith,  a  potent  idea, 
128. 

Keys,  the  power  of  in  papal  claims. 
269. 

Kidd,  Benj.:  deplores  inequalities  in 
society,  355;  discusses  education 
in  Greek  States,  157;  on  influence 
of  religion  upon  social  movements, 
294;  shows  potency  of  religion  in 
social  progress,  320  f. 

King,  H.  C,  on  the  just  man,  417. 

Kingdom  of  God :  a  fundamental 
idea  in  Christianity,  287;  has  been 
variously  defined,  405,  409  f  ;  is 
a  great  political  ideal,  308,  398; 
is  an  ideal  becoming  real,  299. 

Kingdoms  based  on  force,  not  per- 
manent, 430. 

Kingship  of  Jesus,  defined,  426. 

Kirkup  defines  Socialism,  92. 

Kropoticin :  finds  some  forms  of  as- 
sociation everywhere,  85;  tells  why 
men  are  always  found  in  societies, 
46  f. 

Labor  unions,  are  necessary,  250. 

Labriola,  on  economic  structure  of 
society,  93. 

Law:  has  an  educational  value,  441; 
nature  of  civil  law,  27  f. 

Leadership,  often  false  in  a  democ- 
racy, 189. 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H. :  names  achieve- 
ments of  Greek  peoples,  117;  sees 
danger  in  plutocracy.  336. 

Liberty:  in  its  nay  and  yea,  218;  im- 
plies self-sacrifice.  219:  must  be- 
come positive,  220  f. 

Lieber,  Francis:  considers  the  influ- 
ence of  the  State,  16;  describes 
political  parties,  197. 

Life,  is  organic  and  organific,  431, 
434- 

Lilly,  W.  S.:  declares  that  knowl- 
edge is  not  sufficient.  320;  finds 
Socialism  hard  to  define,  92;  dis- 
counts social  contract  theory,  212; 
on  the  theory  of  conquest,  42;  on 
the  influence  of  religion,  304;  on 
the  duty  of  the  State  to  maintain 
proper  conditions,  74. 


INDEX 


455 


Lincoln,  Abraham,  defines  democ- 
racy, no. 

Literary  men,  a  prophetic  order,  148. 

Lloyd,  Henry  D. :  declares  monopoly 
prices  are  a  ransom,  230;  on  the 
growth  of  conscience,  321. 

Locke:  on  a  speech  of  King  James, 
43;  defines  the  end  of  government, 
72. 

Lodge,  Sir  Oliver,  quoted  on  com- 
pulsory secularism,  296. 

London,  and  its  many  poor,  340. 

Lotze,  quoted  on  influence  of  guilds, 
121. 

Love  and  brotherhood:  in  society, 
376  f;  is  a  universal  law,  377. 

Lowell,  James  R. :  quoted,  435;  was 
a  poet  of  democracy,  154. 

Luther,  Martin;  demands  social  free- 
dom, 130;  his  doctrines  defined, 
128;  never  became  fully  democratic, 
272;  tries  to  suppress  Anabaptists, 
131. 

Macaulay,  Thomas  B.:  essay  of,  on 
Von  Ranke,  252;  foresees  peril  in 
democracy,  191. 

MacMaster,  quoted  on  State  consti- 
tutions, 162. 

Mackenzie,  quotes  an  English  judge, 
368. 

Mackenzie,  J.  S.,  on  person  and  so- 
ciety, 413. 

Madison,  President:  defends  the 
Baptists,  277;  offers  First  Amend- 
ment to  Constitution,  279. 

Maine,  Sir  Henry:  defines  patri- 
archal theory  of  State,  37;  on 
America's  influence  on  world, 
163. 

Majority  may  override  minority, 
204. 

Making  men  good  by  law,  366. 

Man :  appraised  highly  by  democ- 
racy, 394;  is  more  than  wealth, 
397-  ,        ,  . 

Martensen,  Bishop:  on  the  relation 
of  Church  and  State,  283:  on 
metapolitical  element  in  Chris- 
tianity, 303;  quoted  on  power  of 
Christianity  in  society,  417. 

Martineau,  James,  on  God  as  the 
supreme  ideal,  306. 

Mazzini,  Joseph:  a  prophet  of  de- 
mocracy, 169;  considers  problems 
of  democracy,  357;  declares  So- 
cialism is  materialistic,  97;  his 
characterization  of  the  family,  20; 
on  the  harmony  of  conflicting  in- 
terests, 312;  regards  "utility"  no 
real  motive,  315;  wants  best  peo- 
ple to  govern,  182. 

Mill,  J.  S. :  declares  that  society 
fosters  selfishness,  337;  fears 
tyranny  of  multitude,  204;  gives 
definition  of  liberty,  87;  on  in- 
fluence of  machinery,  354;  says 
justice  not  known  to-day,  356. 

Moral  life  of  people,  the  concern  of 
State,  76. 


Morality,  realized  in  social  relations, 
33- 

Morley,  John,  thinks  world  can  be 

made  better,  385. 
Masson,   honors   Baptists,  274. 
Matheson,  George,  defines  faith,  426, 

446. 

Metapolitical  element  necessary, 
3°7- 

Mob  mind,  in  a  democracy,  206  f. 
Monarchy:  as  form  of  government, 
104;  in  Great  Britain  is  limited, 

i°5- 

Monopoly  control,  in  modern  world, 
226. 

Moss,  Lemuel,  states  law  of  unity, 
175- 

Motley,  on  early  Germans,  119- 

Mulford,  Elisha:  on  patriarchal 
theory,  40;  on  law  of  humanity 
in  State,  430. 

Miiller,  Max,  finds  no  people  with- 
out government,  17,  46. 

Multitude,  may  become  a  tyranny, 
210. 

Munger,  Theo.,  quoted  on  jubilee 
law,  390. 

Mutual  responsibilities,  in  a  democ- 
racy, 181. 

Napoleon,  opened  career  for  talent, 
175. 

Nash,  Henry  S. :  defines  tasks  of 
Christianity  to-day,  420;  says  peo- 
ple rule  by  divine  right,  165. 

Natural  society,  as  theory  of  State, 
48. 

New  York  City,  and  its  poor,  341. 

Obstacles,  to  human  well-being,  72. 

Opportunity:  to  be  guaranteed  to  all, 
374;  should  be  provided  in  infi- 
nite variety,  384  f. 

Origen,  on  conception  of  Church 
and  State,  266. 

Parliament,  the  power  of,  in  Britain, 
106. 

Parties:  are  necessary  in  free  States, 
198;  keep  good  men  out  of  office, 
240;  may  become  a  gross  tyranny, 
200;  often  defeat  popular  govern- 
ment, 239;  suppress  personal  in- 
dependence, 330. 

Party  system,  a  danger  in  democ- 
racy, 196. 

Party  spirit,  may  be  a  danger,  199. 

Paternal  type  of  society,  97. 

Paul  the  Apostle:  defines  religious 
liberty,  219;  honors  civil  rulers, 
56- 

Peasants:  revolt  in  Germany,  130; 
struggle  of,  for  liberty,  271; 
twelve  articles  by,  quoted,  130. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  defines  public  opin- 
ion, 201. 

Perfection  of  man,  considered,  411  f. 
Pericles,    oration    of,    over  Athe- 
nians, quoted,  31. 
Phillips,  Wendell:  believed  in  democ- 


456 


INDEX 


racy,  172:  would  give  vote  to  all 
men,  178. 

Philosophy,  art  of  thinking  things 
together,  10. 

Piers  the  Plowman,  represents 
Christ  among  men,  150. 

Pilgrims,  more  tolerant  than  Puri- 
tans, 273. 

Plato:  explains  origin  of  the  State, 
250;  quoted  on  ideal  city,  450. 

Plutarch:  found  no  State  without  re- 
ligion, 326;  explains  origin  of 
State,  40;  quotes  Alexander  on 
brotherhood,  143. 

Politics:  one  of  the  highest  arts, 
208;  has  a  moral  and  religious 
meaning,  448. 

Political  parties,  lack  ideals,  362. 

Political  corruption,  of  various 
kinds,  334  f. 

Pressure,  against  things  hurtful, 
363. 

Priesthood,  of  all  believers,  128. 
Printing-press,  promotes  democracy, 

159- 

Problems  of  the  modern  State:  con- 
sidered, 327  f;  new,  ever-arising, 
327;  social,  must  be  solved,  357. 

Process,  carried  forward  in  world, 
too. 

Programme:  of  a  Christian  society 
discussed,  360  f  ;  may  be  good  but 
tentative,  434;  of  social  action 
often  lacking,  398. 

Promotive  functions  of  the  State, 
72  f. 

Prophetic  hope  of  Israel,  was  social. 

3fi3-  .  .  .  . 

Proudhon,  gives  definition  of  Social- 
ism, 92. 

Psychic    forces    in    human  society, 

classified,  316. 
Public  opinion:  described  by  Bryce, 

202;    will    become    more  potent, 

44i- 

Public  service,  a  problem,  320. 

Punishment,  not  vindictive  but  re- 
formatory, 369. 

Puritans:  sought  to  found  a  Chris- 
tian society,  99;  in  New  England, 
273- 

Ratzeuhofer,  classifies  interests  of 
men,  68. 

Rauschenbusch,  Walter:  mentioned, 
378;  quoted  on  perfection  of  so- 
ciety, 400. 

Realization  of  the  Christian  State, 
402  f. 

Reformation:  a  general  movement, 
123;  causes  of  Protestant,  271; 
early  movements  of,  270;  was 
social  as  much  as  religious,  124  f. 

Reforms,  not  isolated  but  interre- 
lated, 358. 

Relations:  to  be  defined  and  safe- 
guarded, 28;  the  sum  of  human 
life,  26. 

Religion:  basis  of  civil  society,  294: 
Christian,    a   social    gospel,  302; 


defined  by  various  writers,  297; 
furnishes  supreme  standard,  310; 
is  expressed  in  social  life.  326; 
harmonizes  conflicting  interests, 
311;  is  the  real  potency  of  democ- 
racy, 324;  ideas  of  Christianity 
in,  319;  incites  men  to  combat 
evils,  321;  is  all-pervasive,  318; 
its  nature  and  functions,  297;  its 
ideal  guide  of  statesmen,  309; 
mistaken  views  of,  295,  30:;  on 
the  decay  of,  325;  relates  to  all 
life,  300;  seeks  social  expression, 
298;    social   forces   of  Christian, 

Religions  of  world,  in  competition, 
420. 

Renaissance,  a  social  awakening, 
122. 

Resources  of  society,  in  trust  for  all, 
389. 

Revolution,  American,  and  issues  in- 
volved, 230. 

Rhode  Island  Colony:  democratic, 
137;  influences  other  colonies,  138. 

Rights  and  duties,  referred  to,  27; 
new  battle  for  former.  236. 

Ritchie:  his  criticism  of  social  con- 
tract, 46;  on  prevention  of  waste, 
66,  89. 

Ritschl,  on  Christian  life  in  commu- 
nity, 414. 

Rome's  contribution  to  democracy, 
118. 

Ross,  E.  A. :  asks  that  unfit  be  al- 
lowed to  perish,  350;  claims  force 
is  origin  of  State,  40;  describes 
"mob  mind,"  206;  names  various 
interests  of  men,  69;  quoted  on 
psychic  forces  of  society,  442 ;  says 
forces  of  society  are  psychic,  314. 

Rothe,  declares  Christianity  is  es- 
sentially political,  256. 

Rousseau :  describes  social  contract, 
44  f;  influence  of  his  theory,  306; 
popularized  by  Burns,  151. 

Royce,  Josiah,  declares  association 
necessary  to  man.  24. 

Ruskin,  John:  an  English  reformer 
and  critic;  finds  government  good 
where  good  men  govern,  112;  on 
the  manufacture  of  souls,  78;  on 
the  true  wealth  of  man.  309; 
quoted  on  England's  epitaph,  396. 

Russia,  moving  toward  democracy, 
163. 

Sacrifice,  at  basis  of  society,  320. 

Salvation,  includes  whole  life,  412. 

Schaeffle.  quoted  on  essence  of  So- 
cialism, 94. 

Schools,  insure  democracy,  158. 

Scriptures,  chief  cause  of  Reforma- 
tion,   127,  129- 

Scudder.  Vida,  quoted  on  democracy 
in  Britain,  149. 

Seeley,  J.  R. :  finds  religion  creating 
States.  319,  422;  quoted  on  power 
of  religion,  1x4,  294. 

Self-help  a  partial  truth,  391. 


INDEX 


457 


Service  in  society,  test  of  religion, 
446. 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of,  his  efforts  in 
behalf  of  children,  31,  60. 

Shelley,  was  poet  of  democracy,  153. 

Simon,  Jules,  says  State  should  pre- 
pare for  own  decease,  88. 

Sin,  in  essence,  is  selfishness,  222. 

Slums,  a  serious  problem,  34J. 

Small,  A.  W. :  claims  that  State  fur- 
thers progress,  114;  defines  the 
State,  34;  deplores  rule  of  capital- 
ism, 395;  explains  conflicting  in- 
terests of  men,  69;  illustrates  so- 
cializing function  of  State,  66; 
names  spiritual  forces  in  society, 
315;  says  capitalism  is  in  control, 
226;  on  moral  meaning  of  social 
process,  55. 

Smith,  Eugene,  defines  new  pe- 
nology, 370. 

Smith,  Geo.  Adam,  on  character  of 
God,  426. 

Smith,  W.  R. :  describes  theocracy 
in  Israel,  103;  describes  rise  of 
conception  of  church,  260;  on  re- 
ligion among  Semites,  36;  on 
Church  and  State  in  ancient 
world,  259. 

Social  action  must  supplement  self- 
help,  393- 

Social  contract  theory:  defined  and 
criticized,  43  f,  123  f;  is  aban- 
doned by  all  thinkers,  211;  is 
working  theory  of  many  people, 
211. 

Social  control,  of  industry,  235. 
Social  forces:  are  psychic  and  spirit- 
ual,  316;   defined   and  classified, 
_  3?3-  , 

Social  heritage,  not  fairly  appor- 
tioned, 355. 

Social  problem,  is  modern,  352. 

Social  self-consciousness,  finding  ex- 
pression, 110. 

Social  tyranny,  defined,  223. 

Socialism:  defined,  91  f  ;  some  ob- 
jections to,  considered,  96  f. 

Socialistic  indictment:  is  just,  95; 
type  of  society  considered  by,  90  f. 

Society:  aims  of  a  Christian,  360  f; 
is  becoming  Christian,  436  f. 

Solidarity:  of  the  world  and  of  man- 
kind, 50;  is  real  in  modern  so- 
ciety, 176. 

Spencer,  Herbert:  claims  State  must 
prepare  for  decease,  77;  declares 
that  government  is  immoral,  87; 
defines  State  as  committee  of 
management,  29;  shows  advan- 
tages of  association,  86;  protests 
against  modern  "  charity,"  350. 

State:  a  universal  phenomenon,  17; 
an  agency  in  warfare  against 
evil,  364;  as  a  jural  society,  29; 
as  an  economic  society,  30;  can  it 
become  Christian?  404  f  ;  domi- 
nant fact  in  life,  9;  false  concep- 
tions of  the  State,  210;  forms  of 
the  State,  100  f  ;  functions  of, 


72  f  ;  has  it  a  right  to  be? 
12;  has  a  great  mission,  399; 
has  a  moral  life,  439;  how  related 
to  man's  perfection?  415;  is  be- 
coming Christian,  437;  nature  of, 
considered,  17  f  ;  political  organ- 
ization of  people,  19;  organ  of 
political  consciousness,  23;  insti- 
tute of  right  relations,  25;  part- 
nership in  all  good,  29;  realiza- 
tion of  man's  rational  life,  3.'; 
necessary  to  man's  perfection, 
415;  origin  of,  35  f  ;  may  have 
Christian  spirit,  408;  must  as- 
sume new  functions,  14;  will  de- 
pend less  upon  force,  440. 

State  and  its  religion,  294  f. 

State,  democracy,  and  Christianity 
correlated,  402. 

Stickney,  quoted  on  representative 
government,  239. 

Struggle  for  existence,  discussed, 
348. 

Supreme  Court  of  United  States,  on 

object  of  State,  16. 
Switzerland,    a    democratic  State, 

108. 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  protests  against 
caste,  153. 

Theocracy:  defined  by  Josephus, 
102;  an  attempt  to  explain  origin 
of  State,  102  f. 

Theology,  not  basis  of  Christian  so- 
ciety, 424. 

Thirlwall,  on  Aristotle's  use  of 
democracy,  117. 

Tolstoy:  declares  that  State  is  un- 
christian, 82;  his  doctrine  of  no 
State  defined,  82  f;  quoted  on 
State  tyranny,  40. 

Unfit,  The:  if  preserved  become  a 
menace,  349;  in  society  create  a 
problem,  347;  must  be  considered 
and  helped,  75;  must  be  trans- 
formed into  fit,  351. 

Vedder,  H.  C,  quoted  on  life  of 
Hiibmaier,  130. 

Vice,  to  be  made  hazardous  and  un- 
profitable, 365. 

Virginia,  Declaration  of  Rights,  138. 

Virtues  of  Christianity  social,  416. 

Von  Seybel,  distrusts  Rousseau's 
theory,  208. 

Vote-buying,  a  menace,  335. 

Waldo,  Peter,  translates  Gospels, 
125. 

Ward,  Lester  F. :  affirms  essential 
equality  of  all,  168,  345;  describes 
psychic  factors  in  society,  314, 
442;  expects  freedom  through  so- 
cial control,  245;  on  aggression  by 
brain  power,  71 ;  on  relation  of 
service  and  reward,  356;  on  prices 
as  fixed  by  monopoly,  228;  on  soul 
as  great  transforming  agent,  316; 
on  problem   of  fair  distribution, 


45« 


I XDEX 


356;  wants  a  real  social  govern- 
ment, 248;  wants  State  to  extend 
its  functions,  114. 

Washington,  President,  warns  against 
party  spirit,  199. 

Waste,  to  be  prevented,  347. 

Wealth,  a  means  and  not  an  end, 
394- 

Wedgewood,  Julia,  on  ideal  element 

in  society,  304. 
Wcrnle,   Paul,  describes  beginnings 

of  the  church,  262. 
Wcstcott,    Brooke    F. :    defines  the 

idea  of  democracy,  114;  on  social 

aspects  of  Christianity,  442. 
Westermarck,  on  family  as  nucleus 

of  social  group,  38. 
Whittier,  pleads  for  freedom,  is 5. 
Williams,  Roger:  contended  for  soul 

liberty,    135;   founder   of  democ- 


racy in  Rhode  Island  colony,  136. 

Williams,  W.  R.,  on  the  Christian 
religion,  302. 

Willoughby,  W.  W. :  describes  feudal 
system,  43;  explains  and  criticizes 
social  contract,  45  f;  on  the  con- 
ception of  the  State,  18;  oh  re- 
ligion and  political  matters,  301; 
says  anarchy  has  no  logical  basis, 
85;  shows  defects  in  Bluntschli's 
theory,  49. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  on  Patriarchal 
Theory  of  State,  38  f. 

Wordsworth,  a  poet  of  democracy, 
152. 

World,  can  be  made  better,  401. 
Wycliffe,  translates  Scriptures,  125. 

Zechariah  the  prophet,  on  the  better 
city,  343- 


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